Court adjourns child custody suit to December 18

A Lagos High Court, Igbosere, has adjourned till December 18 for the hearing of the matrimonial dispute between Mr. Ayodeji Fanawopo and his estranged wife, Ms. Omobolanle Akinruntan over custody of children.

Justice L.A.M. Folami had earlier issued a bench warrant for the arrest of Ms Akinruntan for her inability to appear before the court at the previous adjournments.

According to the bench warrant, she was supposed to appear before the court on Thursday, August 31, 2017, but she refused to appear.

Again she was supposed to appear in the same court on Wednesday, November 8, 2017 and she did not also appear.

Consequently, Justice Folami has now adjourned the matter to Monday, December 18, 2017, to enable Omobolanle attend the court or be brought by the Police.

But the Maroko police station, which is the closest to the Lekki Phase 1 residence of the defendant, had been given one excuse or the other why she has not been arrested.

Ms Akinruntan and her estranged husband, Fanawopo have been having issues with the custody of their two children since 2010.

Fanawopo had taken her to a London court over some irreconcilable differences in their marriage, but before the court could make a final judgment over the marital issues, Akinruntan allegedly returned to Nigeria with the two children.

Fanawopo got a judgment from a London court ordering that the two children must be brought back to the United Kingdom (UK). He came to Nigeria in 2011 to carry out the London judgment and filed another court matter to that effect. He also got judgment in his favour.

With the assistance of Lagos court bailiffs, he waylaid the children on their way to school and brought them to the airport for the onward trip to London.

The plaintiff stated that before they could board the London-bound flight, some people allegedly on the instruction of the defendant, with the assistance of anti-riot policemen forcefully took the children from him.

He said he later returned to London without the children that day and has refused to give up in his struggle for their custody.