Posted by In response to a grievance voiced by Mrs. Grace Emelogu, a widow who claimed that her in-laws had abducted her two children, commissioner Mrs. Ngozi Blessing Felix and officials of the Abia State Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation have intervened.
After her husband, Christian Emelogu, died, Emelogu’s in-laws from Amachara, Umuahia South LGA, forcibly removed her two children, Chizaram, 11, and Chidera, 9, according to a video that went viral.
However, the Emelogu family, headed by Enyinnaya Emelogu, has refuted the claims, claiming that the widow left her children in Umuahia and moved to Abuja, only visiting them sometimes.
The Emelogu family claimed that the widow left her children in Umuahia and relocated to Abuja, speaking at a meeting called by the Abia State Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation. The gathering took place at the palace of the traditional ruler of the Amachara community, Eze Akpunku Iheuwa.
They said she was too scared to reside in the two rooms that the Emelogu family had offered her and the kids.
Following the funeral for her husband, Mr. Christian Emelogu, a gathering of her relatives suggested that she and the children move closer to Umuahia, where they would be near other relatives.
“She requested permission to travel to her birthplace at Lekwesi in Umunneochi LGA so that she could inform her brothers about the directives from her husband’s family,” stated a spokesperson of the Emelogu family.
They questioned why the widow, who had children of her own, did not value the loving care they received and instead went public with the story of how her family had forcibly taken them.
However, the widow’s older brother, Mr. Titus Igwe, claimed that his sister was terrified by the Emelogu family’s decision and begged her to move to Umuahia.
But he did express regret to his in-laws.
The mother will regain custody of the children in August 2024, according to an agreement reached between the two sides by the Abia State Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation.
With her signature, she promises to raise her children to be upstanding members of society.