Atiku’s son loses children’s custody to ex-wife

A Magistrate’s Court in Lagos has granted the custody of children of the son of former Vice President Abubakar Atiku, Aminu, to his ex-wife Ummi Fatima Bolori.

The order was handed down in a suit between U. F. Bolori Vs M. A. Abubakar and filed this year at the court in Tinubu, Lagos Island.

Magistrate Kikelomo Ayeye ordered that the children Amirah, 8 and Amir 6, should be in the custody of their mother for 10 days, pending when permanent living, visiting arrangement would be made.

Aminu Atiku who was earlier remanded in transit cell due to his disobedience to a court order to produce Amir, was later released when he fulfilled the court order.

Ayeye adjourned the case till November 1, 2017, for further hearing on the matter.

Magistrate Ayeye had on October 11, made the order over the custody of Amir whom he was alleged to have taken away from the custody of Fatima Bolori.

He had earlier made an order of emergency evacuation and protection pending the hearing of the matter.

When the matter came up yesterday, lawyer to Aminu Atiku, M.O. Enitan informed the court that the parties were making plans to settle out of court, but Bolori’s lawyer, Nwabuzor Okoh, denied ever receiving any information from the respondent to settle the matter out of court.

Consequently, Magistrate Ayeye cited Aminu Atiku for contempt of court order made on October 11, and ordered that he should be remanded at the transit cell, while the case was stood down pending when he produced the boy.

Fatima and Aminu were divorced in 2011, and the children were initially with their mother, with an arrangement that the children would be spending vacation with their father.

However, during one of the school holidays in 2013, Aminu requested that they be released to him for a vacation abroad, after which he refused to let the kids return to their mother.

Meanwhile, a statement signed by Nwabuzor Ethel Okoh, the solicitors to Miss Ummi Fatima Bolori, said “following his remand in custody, he [Aminu] was compelled to produce the 6-year old boy in court late this afternoon.

“Accordingly, Aminu Abubakar was released from custody and our client, Miss Ummi Bolori, has been reunited with her two kids which were forcefully taken from her by Aminu Abubakar four years ago,” the statement said.