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.When PUNCH
Metro visited 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 with PUNCH Metro
during 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.”
When PUNCH Metro called Adepegba on Thursday, his phones were switched
off.
SOURCE: PUNCH NEWSPAPER
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2 people like this.
Shameless Father
@monday: it's a such a shame that most people only know how to bring up kids but lacks knowledge on how to raise them
1
i pity the man
na waaaoo
It's a pity, infact it touches my heart but what can i do.