Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer SP Benjamin Hundeyin reported that legal practitioner Ndidi Iyamu has accused her ex‑husband, identified only as Elakhe, of colluding with police to arrest and detain her 70‑year‑old father for several hours in an attempt to gain custody of their son. According to Metro, the couple’s marriage was dissolved by the court in 2018, and custody of their only child was awarded to Iyamu. Since receiving custody, Iyamu says her ex‑husband has employed various tactics, including using the police, to take control of the 11‑year‑old boy.
Iyamu explained that after the court granted her custody, it allowed her husband supervised visits. She permitted two visits in Abuja, but during the last one in October 2021 he allegedly kept the child, enrolled him in school, and forged a new birth certificate while the original remained with her. She filed a contempt proceeding in Lagos, obtained an order for the child’s return, and enforced the judgment in Abuja, which enabled her to bring her son back to Lagos. She added that her ex‑husband continued to call, threatened retaliation for the petitions she filed, insulted her father for supporting her, and told her sister he would come to Lagos to “deal with” her father in order to retrieve the child.
Victor Iyamu, the father, claimed Elakhe facilitated his detention at the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) in Panti, Yaba. He said he was at his shop when Elakhe arrived with two policemen and began harassing him. After his cousin intervened, the officers left, but around 10 p.m. they returned with officers from the Meiran police station and arrested him. Victor, who is hypertensive, was dragged to the station, where the Abuja officers assaulted him and threatened to break his eyeglasses. After being bailed, he was instructed to return on February 6; the police then took him to SCID, where he was held for three hours despite his medical condition, allegedly on Elakhe’s orders.
When contacted, Elakhe denied the allegations and claimed his ex‑wife kept their child away from him. He said she was blackmailing him and that he was only interested in his child’s welfare. Elakhe recounted that the boy, then between 10 and 11 years old and in primary four, performed well academically, passing tests for primary five and six and gaining admission to a boarding school after a common entrance examination. He asserted that the police took the child away in December, but that the boy could still attend another school and that he wanted to stay informed about his education, which his ex‑wife blocked. Elakhe said he traveled to Lagos with family friends, was presented with a court judgment at his father‑in‑law’s house, and was then assaulted by men who tore his clothes. He complained to human‑rights groups and SCID, noting that the detention occurred at night and the child was later granted bail.
Hundeyin commented, “If the case was transferred from Meiran to the SCID, then the DC must be aware and no one can be unjustly detained as a result.”
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