In a petition by Onoberhie 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.
A retired naval Captain, Diamond Onoberhie, has accused his
father-in-law, Rear Admiral John Kpokpogri, of kidnapping his four
children, relocating them to Canada, where they live with their
mother, Rena Kpokpogri.
The four children are Demien, Erhuvwu, Whitney (17) and Dominic Onoberhie (12).
Onoberhie 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 Onoberhie 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, “All these happened because I disagreed with his family about
leading my life the way I was brought up in the Christian way. They
wanted us to live fake lives. Often times, my mother-in-law was on my
neck to live my life like her husband’s. Each time she said this, I
always objected to it, asking her to allow me to lead my own life.
“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 Yaba magistrate’s court, Yaba, Lagos,
for aiding 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 Onoberhie’s residence.
The suspects, who were arraigned on three counts bordering on
conspiracy to kidnap, total disregard for a 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 Onoberhie 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 Onoberhie said, “While it is not in our
client’s nature to dabble in the matrimonial issues of the parents of
our pupils, our attention was drawn to the matrimonial issue between
you and your ex-wife resulting in a petition for the dissolution of
the marriage with your ex-wife.
“The High Court of Justice sitting in Ogun State granted an order for
the dissolution of your marriage; the judge stated thus: ‘I have no
problem in holding that the petitioner shall continue to have custody
of the third child of the marriage.
“This third child is Whitney Onoberhie, while the respondent also
shall continue to have the custody of the fourth child, Dominic
Onoberhie, who is presently with him until both are of age and they
can decide for themselves.
“Despite the order of the honourable court, your ex-wife had
incessantly fomented uncivilized acts both on the premises of our
client and also with our client’s staff.
“While the order of the court only allowed access to Dominic Onoberhie
during vacations and public holidays, your ex-wife has consecutively
during two visiting days barged in on the school premises, disrupted
the school’s activities and demanded to see Master Dominic Onoberhie,
causing untold pandemonium on the school’s premises.
“In the light of the above, we wish to advise that you withdraw your
child from the school as the actions of Ms. Ovi Rena are unacceptable
to our client and pose an immense threat to the welfare, peace and
general safety of the staff and students of our client.”
But Kpokpogri told Punch that he was on a vacation in the United States.
Kpokpogri, “How can I, an admiral and his father-in-law kidnap his
children? Is it not funny?
“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 Onoberhie to go to court if he was sure that he kidnapped his children.
Kpokpogri added, “I’m really embarrassed. What he is saying now
amounts to defamation of character and false information. He knows
that he cannot go to court and that is why he is trying to rubbish
himself. He served as a captain in the Nigerian Navy. So, nothing like
that happened.
“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?
“The first two children are university graduates, who have done their
youth service; and by the constitution, they have the right to decide
who they want to live with. The court gave the custody of the other
two children to him, but, the two children said they were not going to
live with their father but with their mother and they went with their
mother.”
He noted that Onoberhie 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, Punch reports.