- Father seeks custody of son whose mom said had died
A petitioner yesterday told an Ilorin court that his estranged wife lied to him that their five-year-old son had died. In fact, he was bewildered when he saw the supposed dead boy playing football. It is a mirror of what is happening in the Nigerian society recently. Just last week, an 11-year-old boy, Onyebuchi Eze from Agbani village on the outskirts of Nsukka Urban in Enugu State, recounted how he watched his father, Sunday Eze Jnr, said to be mentally unstable, allegedly slaughtered his mother, Anthonia, with a machete. The Daily Sun reported the incident.
The suspect escaped with Onyebuchi into the bush for over 30 hours. A search party initiated by a community leader, Chief Ejike Onah, found them. But at the Ilorin Area Court in Kwara State yesterday, a 55-year-old man, Saadu Aliu of Idi-Ose area, was seeking the custody of his five-year-old son, Aminu, who had been declared dead by his former wife, Afusat Ibrahim of Opo-Malu area in Iliorin. She had allegedly lied to him that the boy was dead.
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Aliu told the court that the child had been with the defendant since 2010 when their marriage collapsed. He said that the union was blessed with three children, noting that the older ones, Ibrahim, 10, and Alimatu, seven are living with him “The defendant told me and my relatives that the boy was dead, but to my surprise, I saw my child playing football with his colleagues,” said the plaintiff.
Aliu, however, told the court that she never told the plaintiff the child was dead. She also claimed that the plaintiff had been denying her access to the other children. The presiding judge, Mr. Yusuf Abdulkareem, ordered the plaintiff to produce two witnesses next Monday, September 17, while the defendant should also bring along five-year-old Aminu.
Recall that two months ago, a former commissioner in the Enugu State Independent Electoral Commission (ENSIEC), Chief Nweze, allegedly shot and killed his wife in their residence at Enugu Ezike in Igboeze Local Government Area of Enugu State for preparing a wrong meal.
