Woman Contests 3-Yr-Old Son With Gov Umahi’s Aide
Miss Ifeoma Chukwu, a single parent, is currently locked in a court battle with the Ebonyi State Ministry of women Affairs and the Special Assistant to Ebonyi Governor on Women Affairs, Mr. Steve Ali over custody of her three-year-old son, Chukwuemeka.
The 37-year-old Miss Chukwu from Abba town in Njikoka Local Government Area of Anambra State lost custody of her child after birth following a brief mental illness. She later launched a bid for the restoration of her child to her after full recovery from her health challenge.
According to the embattled mother, September 23, 2020, would make it four years since she last saw her child after she was delivered of the baby in the Ebonyi state capital due to the health challenge and legal encumbrance that had prevented her from giving him the much-needed motherly care.
Orient Weekend gathered that efforts to recover the boy now more than three years old have so far proved abortive, following the refusal of Mr. Ali, who initially took custody of the child, to relinquish him. Despite a recent court ruling that mandated the ministry to recover the toddler from the governor’s aide and release him to the mother, Ali and his lawyer had stuck to their guns and had reportedly challenged the verdict.
Unexpected tragic twist
Ifeoma was full of tears when she shared her experiences, the circumstances that led to the pregnancy out of wedlock and how events beyond her control forced her and the child to part ways after her delivery.
“When I finished my NYSC, I developed mental sickness. I used to hear voices telling me to flee from home. As I ran away from home, I was raped by one man and I became pregnant.
“While in Ebonyi state, I was sleeping under the bridge because of the mental sickness. I later gave birth to a baby boy under the bridge. Some people that saw me, took me to a nearby hospital. There in the hospital, they took my baby to a new born unit where they were attending to him.
“They gave me serious medical attention and I returned to my normal senses and recovered fully. When I recovered, I went to them to give me my baby but they refused. Because I didn’t have anybody around me, I left the baby in the hospital and went home. When I came back to collect my baby with my people, they said that they gave my baby to one man (Mr Steve Ali) for adoption.
The ministry involvement
Orient Weekend was told that shortly after the Ebonyi State Ministry of Women Affairs took the baby away from the ailing mother and handed him over to the Special Assistant to Ebonyi Governor on Women Affairs, Mr Steve Ali and his wife Martina Chito Ali for custody.
Trouble started when Ifeoma regained her mental health and demanded for her baby. Mr. and Mrs Ali refused to release the baby, claiming that they had adopted the child. Efforts by the ministry to persuade the couple to relinquish the child fell on deaf ears as they reportedly dragged the case to court.
The case suit No. HAB/77/2019, presided over by the Ebonyi State Chief Judge, Justice A. A. Nwaigwe, reached a turning point on June 17, 2020 when the court ruled against the couple and in favor of the ministry.Part of the judgment stated that the ministry should use any means to recover the baby for return to the mother, Ifeoma.
Ebonyi State Commissioner for women Affairs, Mrs Rebecca Ogbuewu disclosed that efforts by the ministry to recover the baby from Mr Ali had been unsuccessful. “Everybody is working towards recovering the baby. We have written a reminder to the police to recover the child,” she said.
She recalled how she personally appealed to the couple to release the child to the mother when she returned with a letter of intent to take her child back after making full recovery.“I had a meeting with the biological mother and the foster parent in my office. After the meeting late Mrs. Ali, who was a lawyer, told me that she was not going to hand over the child to the ministry. I told her that if she argued the case till the end of the world, she would not win. But she said that she was heading to court.
“Since last year the case has been in the court and once a case is in the court, we had nothing to do than to wait. So, sometime last month, the judgment came out and was in favour of the ministry. I waited for Mr. Ali to bring back the child. We wrote to him to bring back baby Chukwuemeka to the ministry but we didn’t see him or the child. I wrote to the police to help us recover the child after the judgment.
“I later heard that they went to appeal the case. Courts are not in session, that’s why it looks as if we are stuck. I have written to the commissioner of police again that it is their duty to recover that child, whether Supreme Court or not, a court has given judgment. Let the child be released to us from there we can do whatever is necessary. We are doing our best. It is left for police to do their own job,” she added.
The commissioner admitted that the ministry has no right to give out a child for adoption, but “we have the right to foster a child and the foster parents did not complete the process of adoption”.
Ogbuewu went further: “Before you foster a child in this ministry we have a handout that has all the rules guiding it and we must give it to you to study. He, Mr. Ali, is one of us here. He knows everything about fostering a child. He has the handout.
She denied signing any document granting Mr. Ali full custody of the child. “I have the right to sign any document before fostering or adoption of a child and I have not signed anything for adoption, if there is any I don’t know.
The commissioner further disclosed that the ministry made efforts to address the matter. “When this thing was happening, personally I went to the wife for the first time and pleaded. I said, please, you are a lawyer, you know what is right, you know what is involve and the woman kept saying the same thing. I noticed that the woman was the one fine-tuning the whole matter. Now, the woman is no more (late) and Steve is still going the same way. I cannot say I know him 100 per cent.
Last battle line
Ifeoma’s sister, Mrs. Ifeyinwa Nzenwa, disclosed that since efforts by the ministry to secure release of the child has so far proved abortive, despite a favourable judgment, her sister had run to the National Human Rights Commission for help in rescuing her biological son from Mr Ali.
“The Ministry of Women Affairs ordered us to come and collect our baby since the court has ordered the release of the child but Steve Ali’s lawyer said no ruling on the matter had been served them, that they had not seen the court judgment and that they had appealed the judgment. Now, our lawyer has directed us to go to National Human Rights Commission to report the matter. It is up to the commission, the ministry and the police to help us get our child back from Mr Ali,” she said.
When contacted on phone, Mr. Ali told our correspondent that he had briefed his lawyer on the next line of action on the matter and warned our reporter not to write anything bad concerning him.
The Ebonyi State Co-ordinator of the National Human Rights Commission, Mr. Onyekachi Okorie said the commission would investigate the matter before taking any action. “The law is very clear on the issue of adoption or even fostering. This is so clear and very direct and from the documents before us, the court has equally ruled in this regard. The National Human Rights Commission will ever stand behind the rule of law and for whatever is in the best interest of the child. The child has a right to its identity, the child has a right to its root and we must ensure that this is done,” it said.
When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, Ebonyi State Command, DSP Loveth Odah said the police was handicapped because the accused person Mr. Ali had appealed the judgment which ruled in favour of the ministry.
“If it should be an illegal adoption, I think the police should have known from the beginning, because such a matter should have been reported to the police in writing. They took a civil action against the accused person before coming to the police. When they came to the police on this matter, it made the police to be handicapped because a court of competent jurisdiction was already on the matter.
Odah assured that the police would swing into action once the court dispenses judgment on the matter. “As soon as the magistrate or the judge takes action on the matter and maybe the judgment is in favour of the complainant, we can go ahead and investigate and receive the baby from the foster parents to the real”.
Orientdailynews
