Woman accused of Abducting her children from Ghana to Nigeria

The jingle bells of marriage have been rang in the home of Mr. Wereko in December 2011. It was the product of love and great affection, yet one that he had to fight a battle to prevail. Sadly, the battle is yet to end, as a one-time blissful union has gone down the rail.

Mr. Wereko, while speaking with the Media has called on the general public and authorities to help him over abduction of his child by wife family. 

Wereko who met his estranged wife, Onyinyechi Choice Onuoha in Ghana where their love grew and led to a marital union has produced three kids and many great moments but recently, it has been difficult times between Mr. Wereko and the family of his estranged lover.

In a narration of the story of how things went from bad to worse, Wereko told  the our reporter that their marriage had some of its challenges, right from the beginning. He cited this to be as a result of the difference in their religious doctrines. He explained that while the family of his estranged wife is a strong and passionate Seventh-Day-Adventist, he attended a Pentecostal church at the heart of Ghana. 

“there were red flags before the wedding, because her parents didn’t want us to get married over the difference in our beliefs and doctrines. I had no problem with it but I knew it was going to pose some challenges, Her father is a senior member of the church and in the Seventh- Day Adventist and also a senior lecturer at Babcock University, Ilisan-Remo, Ogun State.” He admitted. 

Babcock, a foremost private higher institution in Nigeria is owned by the Seventh-Day Adventist church and have key doctrines that stand them out. Wereko said he ignored these because he was in love with the woman who became his wife, and was ready to do all he could to make their marriage work.

“I joined her church, but my wife’s father was still not happy about the marriage plans. We eventually got married in December 2011.”

Mr. Wereko said her wife moved in with him in Ghana after the marriage where they attended the Seventh-Day Adventist church for some time. However, he and his wife at some point mutually decided to attend an Interdenominational Church in Accra, where his wife was happy and participated in church programs.

He said their marriage started facing difficult times when his parents-in-law began to mount pressure on her over their union. While these was put up with for a long time, he said his in-laws started putting pressure on his wife to leave him and pursue either higher education or travel to Canada to live with her sister who had settled there.

Speaking further,   He remembers his mother-in-law asking “would you be happy if you spent money on your daughter to become a medical doctor and she didn’t progress?”

He said since their children home-schooled, he became the primary caregiver of the boys so that his wife could work full time as a medical doctor.

 “I took care of our kids. I spent more time with them because she was often away, due to the nature of her work. I am my own boss so I could care for the kids. Our kids are aged 7,5 and 3 years old respectively.”

The incessant pressure from his in-laws according to Mr. Wereko forced his wife to seek a way out of the marriage by  secretly conniving with her family to immigrate to Canada with the 3 children without his knowledge. 

To facilitate this, she made Nigerian passports for the children without his knowledge or consent even though the children already had Ghana passports with valid United States of America visas. Having secured documentation to start the Canadian visa application process, she took the children to Akai Medical Centre where she did medical exams for herself and the children. This was done without his knowledge and he was really devastated to find out eventually. He added. 

On the 9th of November, while he was out to get cake and gifts for one of their children whose birthday was on the next day, his wife absconded with the children to Nigeria with the intention of onward travel to Canada. 

Mr. Wereko however said his kids have been in Nigeria, in the premises of Babcock University with their mother since then, and he has been denied all forms of access, and every means of communication between the wife and kids were blocked.  

When all attempts to contact his wife’s family failed as everyone refused to answer his calls or social media messages, it dawned on him that it was a collective decision by the family for his wife to abduct their children to Nigeria.

 He therefore enlisted the help of other relatives and SDA pastors to settle the matter amicably but his father in-law flatly refused to engage anyone.
Sensing that his only option was through legal means, he reported the case to the Ghanaian Police. A warrant of Arrest for his wife was issued by a Judge of the Magistrate Court in Madina, Accra and forwarded to Interpol as criminal charges bordering on abduction of minors were filed against her. She is currently being tried in absentia even as an extradition process has been initiated against her.

Mr. Wereko asserts that his wife’s father has been playing the keys and has frustrated all his attempts to see his kids. He said the Interpol has invited him severally but he managed to go there only after delaying for 2 months. When Interpol requested him to bring the children and his daughter to Alagbon, Lagos on 22nd March he refused and showed up without the children. This left Mr. Wereko who had exercised high hopes of seeing his children shattered and heart-broken. 

He said “I had earlier in January visited Ilisan-Remo to look for my kids when Babcock University’s security agents nabbed me and took me to a Police station in Ilisan where i spent six hours there before an attorney came to his rescue in the station”.

According to him, he petitioned the Social Welfare Ministry at Ilisan which sent several summons to the Onuoha family, all to no avail. His previous attempts to see his kids have proven abortive as they’ve been kept totally away from him. He however is of the belief that they attend schools within the university’s premises where his parents-in-law and brother-in-law work at the Babcock University Teaching Hospital.

“I have duly petitioned Nigerian Police Service and the Nigerian Ministry of Social Welfare. The Ministry of Social Welfare sent a Bailiff to the Department of Surgery to serve Dr. Clement Onuoha with an invitation for his daughter to appear before the ministry on Thursday 20th December 2018. However upon his arrival, the bailiff was told that no such Dr. Clement Onuoha works there. I thought this was both unfortunate and unprofessional to say the least, especially since I am well aware of the renown Babcock University as a world-class educational institution with further reputation for God-fearing employees,” he informed Babcock’s Vice Chancellor through an email.

He wrote a letter to Babcock University’s Vice Chancellor informing him of his visit and providing details of their relationship there. Mr. Wereko said he has never raised a hand on his wife, nor ever acted in an abusive manner. He said his in-laws apart from his father-in-law had visited his house often and it was always peaceful and cordial till she left with the kids.

In one of his attempts to see his kids and meet with his estranged in-laws to reach an amicable solution, Babcock University’s campus security and fully armed policeman arrested him while he was in a meeting with 3 Adventist pastors. He said his wife’s father, Dr. Clement Onuoha had falsely accused him of kidnapping and this was in spite of the prior notice he gave the university about his intention to come to the university campus.

Mr. Wereko said; “I believe the Babcock University security officers and the DPO of the Ilisan Police Station are in his pocket. They’ve been used to greatly frustrate all my attempts to see my kids.”

Meanwhile, every attempt to reach out to Mr. Wereko’s wife to listen to her part of the story was not successful.