Tuesday, 21 October 2014

Man Abandons Children In Boarding School For Eight Years

Three children abandoned in a boarding school in
Abule-Iroko in the Ado-Odo Ota Local Government
Area of Ogun State are longing to meet their
parents who have abandoned them for eight years.
WhenPUNCH Metrovisited Solid Model College, the
children recounted their ordeal, noting that the
absence of their parents was affecting their studies.
Seun Adepegba, 14,Seyi, 10 and Titilola, 13, had
been severed from parental love and care since
infanthood. After waiting for eight years, they
seemed to have relinquished all hopes of reuniting
with their parents.
It was learnt that their tale of sorrow began in
2007 when their father, Mr Segun Adepegba, who
had been separated from their mother, enrolled them
in the boarding school because he could not afford
to take care of them.
According to the proprietor of the school, Mr
Samuel Ayegbusi, Adepegba came to enroll them in
his school on September 24, 2007 with a promise
to always check on them.
He said, “Mr. Adepegba told me his wife had just left
him and that he could not afford to take care of
them, being a jobless man. The children were very
little. Seyi was two, while Titilola was five.
“Mr Adepegba had pleaded with me to accept them in
the boarding school. Mr Adepegba’s sister promised
to bear the cost of their upkeep. They paid an initial
N150, 000 for the three children for the first
term.”
But according to the proprietor, Adepegba never
kept his promise. He said after the first term, the
school expected him to come and take his children
home for holiday but he never showed up until four
years later. He said the school had expended over
N7m on the upkeep of the children since 2007.
The proprietor said efforts to reach the parents’
families had proved abortive, adding that calls to
Adepegba’s phones were not always answered.
He said, “Whenever we called him and he realised
who was talking on the phone, he would switch off
his phones and for the next two weeks, the numbers
would not be available. When the school contacted
their father’s sisters, we were told that they had
travelled out of the country.
“When we called one of them, we were told that they
had sent money to Mr Adepegba to defray the
children’s school fees and upkeep. But Mr. Adepegba
has never come here to make any payment since the
initial deposit he made in 2007.”
According to the proprietor, taking care of the
children had further become cumbersome for him as
one of them, Titilayo, had started misbehaving. He
recounted how Titilayo ran away from the hostel
twice without informing the school authority on the
excuse that she was going to look for her father.
Ever since she was found, the proprietor said the
school had had to keep her in a room, under tight
surveillance, because she had vowed to run away to
find her father.
He said, “The school is not even bothered by the
cost of their upkeep. But anytime the school closed
for holiday and parents come around to take their
children home, Titilayo would fall into a sober mood
and twice, she had run away from the hostel without
informing anyone. It was a resident who stopped her
and brought her back to the school.
Some of the teachers, who spoke withPUNCH
Metroduring the visit, said the absence of the
children’s parents was seriously affecting their
studies. They said the appearance of their parents
would boost their academic performance.
While recounting their days with their father, the
children said he celebrated birthdays with them.
They said they had never met their mother.
Titilayo said, “We do not know who our mother is.
We grew up in Yaba, Lagos and all we remember is
that there was a woman that washed our clothes
and took care of us until we came here. We knew she
was not our mother.”
Seyi, the youngest of the trio, however, was an
exception as she kept a cheerful look during the
visit. Seyi, who told our correspondent her dream
was to become a medical doctor said, “Although I
have a faint memory of my father, I will like to see
him. If he comes today, I will ask him why he left us
for so long.”
Seun added, “I don’t care how long he has left us. I
just want to see him. I really need to see him.”
WhenPUNCH Metrocalled Adepegba on Thursday, his
phones were switched off.
Source: www.punchng.com/

No comments: