A banker, Princewill Njoku, has been reunited with his son, Kayomikun, after 4 years of struggle with his father-in-law, Chief Godwin Osuchukwu, who wanted to take custody of the child. Our correspondent had reported in 2017 that Princewill’s wife, Favour, died in September 2015, shortly after giving birth to the child at a medical facility in the FESTAC area of Lagos State.

However, her father, a community leader in Umuokwara Umucheke Okwe, Onuimo Local Government Area of Imo State, seized the boy. Osuchukwu had claimed that the 42-year-old did not marry his daughter properly. “In Igboland, if you don’t marry someone completely when she is alive, you will complete the rites when the person dies. So, Princewill should do the right thing,” he told our correspondent in 2017.

He also frowned on the Yoruba name given to the child and renamed him Ndidi. Princewill had written several petitions to the Lagos State Government and the National Human Rights Commission, claiming that his father-in-law planned to travel out with his son without his consent. The matter passed through different courts, as Osuchukwu also made allegations against Princewill, who produced photos as proof that he completed the traditional marriage rites for Favour.

The banker, an indigene of Umuokwaraku Umudiagba Abajah, in the Nwangele Local Government Area of Imo State, lamented how a directive from the Lagos State Directorate of Public Prosecutions to the Ajegunle Magistrates’ Court to release his son to him was frustrated. Our correspondent obtained a copy of the legal advice, dated October 2017 and signed by the then Director, DPP, Dr Jide Martins.

It recommended the prosecution of 72-year-old Osuchukwu for child abduction and the release of the child to the banker. The advice read in part, “The facts contained in the duplicate case file reveal that after the death of his wife, Princewill Njoku gave his in-laws his baby boy, Kayomikun Chimdinso Destiny Sunday Patrick Njoku, who was in the care of his sister, Charity Njoku.

“On December 27, 2015, he went to pick his son from his in-laws, but his father-in-law, Godwin Osuchukwu, refused to release his son to him. He (Osuchukwu) also confessed to have denied him the possession of his son. From 2015 till date (2017), Osuchukwu has still not released his son to him.

“The suspect confessed to have detained Princewill Njoku’s son, Kayomikun, against his father’s will, and he still insists on not returning him despite various meetings and court interventions. In light of the foregoing, Godwin Osuchukwu should be prosecuted at the magistrates’ court for the offence of abduction or unlawful removal.”

The advice was, however, frustrated, as the case dragged on. Princewill was said to have written several petitions to the Attorney-General of Lagos State, the state Commissioner of Police and the DPP, calling for the activation of the legal advice. The police were said to have claimed that the legal advice could not be found in the case file. The banker was advised to write a letter, seeking the advice to be resent to the police, which he did.

3 years after, the police reportedly indicated readiness to prosecute Osuchukwu, as his family began moves to resolve the matter. He said, “My father-in-law’s lawyer had boasted to us in court that we could not do anything with the legal advice, because he felt that they had bought their way through to suppress the case from coming up. But the DPP had got marching orders from the Lagos State Attorney-General and Commissioner of Justice to look into the case.

“After obtaining a new copy of the legal advice, the X-Squad also swung into action to prosecute him after over 3 years’ delay. The case was transferred to the Yaba Magistrates’ Court. My father in-law afterwards said that his dead mother appeared 3 times to warn his family of the dangerous waters they were treading, and he, as a father, wanted to right the wrongs in his lifetime. I give God the glory for disgracing all those who put impediments on the path of the truth coming out. I was able to get my son back without struggling for it. The day he was returned coincidentally was my birthday.”

SOURCE: https://punchng.com/banker-gets-son-back-after-four-years-battle-with-father-in-law/

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Congrats! Sorry for your wife's demise.

I wonder what a 72yr old man is struggling a child for, knowing that he's not fit to look after one. See how he has destroyed the relationship with his son-in-law.

Hmmm.....

Glad he got his son back.

I hate this unjust world especially Nigeria eh! See the wicked road and blockades set up to obtain good and righteous remedy.

God, please let your Just is fall!