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.
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.