Chaos emerge at the Tinubu
Magistrate’s Court yesterday afternoon following the disappearance of Aamir
Atiku, the seven-year-old son of Aminu Atiku and his ex-wife, Unmi Fatima
Bolori.
The boy’s mother claimed
that Aminu, son of former Vice President Abubakar Atiku, snatched Aamir and
drove off with him.
The alleged incident
occurred at 1:59pm, minutes after Aminu lost custody of his daughter Ameera
Atiku, 9, and Aamir 7, to Bolori.
Chief Magistrate Ayeye
granted Bolori full custody of the children after Aminu failed to file a
response to her application for child custody.
The court ordered Aminu to
pay Bolori N250, 000 monthly for the upkeep of the children, beginning from
this month. It also ordered Aminu to carry out medical insurance on the
children among others.
Bolori’s November 2017
application for child custody proposed a nine-point ‘statement of arrangement’
for the children.
It was argued by her
counsel, Gloria Albert-Ekpe (Mrs.) and Ethel Okoh from Festus Keyamo Chambers.
The applicant prayed the
court to order Aminu to pay her N300,000,00 monthly as feeding and maintenance
allowance for the kids’ upkeep and N1million yearly as their clothing
allowance.
Bolori also sought an order
restraining Aminu from taking the kids “outside the shores of Nigeria for any
purpose whatsoever” without her consent.
At the resumed hearing of
the matter yesterday, neither Aminu nor his legal team was present to announce
appearance.
Chief Magistrate Ayeye
said: “The respondent failed to file a response. In view of the deliberate
absence of the respondent and his legal team, I am constrained to make these
following orders in default of respondent’s presence and in the best interest
of the children to wit:
“Unmi Fatima Bolori is
hereby granted full custody of Aamir Abubakar Sadiq Aminu Atiku (seven years)
and Ameera Amina Atiku (nine years).
“The applicant is allowed
to reside with the children at her residence at Katampe Extension, Abuja.
“The applicant is ordered
to put the children in schools suited for their educational needs in Abuja.
“Access is granted to the
respondent to visit his children in Abuja and request for the children to spend
holidays with him.
“The respondent is ordered
to pay monthly upkeep for the children in the amount ofN250, 000.00 monthly
beginning January 2018.
“The Respondent is ordered
to effect medical insurance on each of the children.”
When Aminu and his legal
team eventually arrived at the courtroom at around 1pm, the proceedings were
practically over.
The Nation observed him
laughing and playing with both kids in the courtroom. At about 1:45pm, he
consulted with his lawyers and walked out of the courtroom.
According to Bolori’s
counsel Okoh, Aminu “snatched” his son from the mum, locked him in his car
before driving off”.
Okoh said last night that
Aminu had refused to hand over his son to her client. She said his mother was
worried because they were due to catch a flight to her Abuja home today.
Bolori, daughter of
Maiduguri businessman Alhaji Bukar Bolori, and Aminu got married in Ghana in
2007, but they separated in 2011.
On October 18, 2017, Chief
Magistrate Ayeye temporarily remanded Aminu in a transit cell within the
court’s premises after citing him for alleged contempt.
Atiku allegedly kept Amir
from his mother, contrary to an October 11, 2017 order of the court.
He must be punished
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