Officials from the Abia State Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, led by commissioner Mrs Ngozi Blessing Felix, have replied to an outcry from a widow, Mrs Grace Emelogu, who claimed that her in-laws kidnapped her two children. Emelogu said in a viral video that her two children, Chizaram, 11, and Chidera, 9, were forcibly taken away by her in-laws in Amachara, Umuahia South LGA, following the death of her husband, Christian Emelogu.
However, the Emelogu family, lead by Enyinnaya Emelogu and other relatives, has disputed the charges, claiming that the widow abandoned her children in Umuahia and migrated to Abuja, where she only visited them on occasion.
According to Emelogu family members who spoke during a meeting organised by the Abia State Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation at the palace of the Amachara community’s traditional ruler, Eze Akpunku Iheuwa, the widow abandoned her children in Umuahia and relocated to Abuja. They stated she was terrified to dwell in the two rooms set aside by the Emelogu family for her and the children.
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“After the burial of her husband, Mr Christian Emelogu, the family, at a meeting, advised her to relocate closer home to Umuahia so that she and the children will be around other family members.
“She agreed and asked to be allowed to travel to her birthplace at Lekwesi in Umunneochi LGA in order to communicate her brothers of the directives of her husband’s family,” a representative of the Emelogu family said.
They wondered why the widow did not appreciate the good care given to her children, but then turned around and told the world that the family had forcibly taken over the children. Mr Titus Igwe, the widow’s eldest brother, stated that the Emelogu family’s plan to relocate her to Umuahia had scared her.
He did, however, apologise to his in-laws. To address the dispute, the Abia State Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation reached an agreement with the two parties, under which custody of the children will be transferred to their mother in August 2024. She will sign an agreement to raise the children as responsible citizens.
