A retired naval Captain, Diamond Onoberhie, has accused his father-in-law, Rear Admiral John Kpokpogri, of kidnapping his four children and relocating them to Canada, where they live with their mother, Ms Rena Kpokpogri.
The four children are Demien, Erhuvwu, Whitney (17) and Dominic Onoberhie (12).
Diamond said upon the dissolution of his marriage to Rena, the children were shared between them.
He added that he was surprised that his father-in-law was still interested in having custody of the only child with him, Dominic.
In a petition by Diamond to the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, he alleged that Kpokpogri did this to portray him as a childless man, adding that the admiral had also been threatening his life.
According to him, Kpokpogri took all the major and conflicting decisions to truncate his marriage to his daughter in line with his alleged promise to render him useless.
He said,
“It was along the line that I got to know that they lead a pretentious lifestyle, which is contrary to the way I was brought up with a core value of the Christian faith; it is not at this age that I should change that.”
He added that two persons, Eliagu Abel, 25, and Emmanuel Dibia, 48, had been arraigned before the Magistrates’ Court, Yaba, Lagos, for aiding in the kidnap of Dominic.The retired naval captain said Dibia, a lawyer, was instructed by Rena to abduct Dominic, while Abel was a gateman in Diamond’s residence.
The suspects, who were arraigned on three counts bordering on conspiracy to kidnap, total disregard for court order and unlawful possession of Dominic, pleaded not guilty to the charges preferred against them.
It was alleged that Dibia employed the services of Abel to get Dominic from his father’s residence and took him to his mother in Abuja.
It was gathered that an Ogun State High Court, presided over by Justice A. A. Bakre, in May 2018, granted Diamond the custody of Dominic.
The prosecutor, G. A. Okhliku, said the defendants conspired among themselves to commit the offences and disobeyed an order of the court.
He stated that their conduct was likely to cause the breach of peace contrary to Section 412 of the Criminal Laws of Ogun State of Nigeria, 2015.
According to him, Stella Maris Schools Limited, which Dominic attended, through its lawyer, asked Diamond to withdraw his son from the school owing to the frequent troubles Rena was allegedly fomenting.
The school’s letter to Diamond, which was made available to our correspondent, read in part,
When contacted, Kpokpogri told our correspondent that he was in the United States of America for his annual vacation alongside his wife.
Kpokpogri, who described Diamond as an ingrate, asked,
“I gave him my daughter to marry and later turned around to kidnap the children. Is it not funny? It is difficult to imagine the scenario.”
He asked Diamond to go to court if he was sure that he kidnapped his children.
“Their marriage was dissolved by the court and the children were shared between them. The children all decided right from the court premises to be with their mother, none wanted to go with him. So, how do I come in there?
He noted that Diamond wanted to embarrass him, adding that he would come up with a detailed response on the matter so that the world would know the facts of the case.
