A Special Offences Court in Lagos has ordered Cece Yara Foundation to produce in court the two daughters of an associate professor of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Adebisi Arewa.
The children must be in court on August 25, Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo ruled on Wednesday.
The order, Taiwo said, became necessary to enable her speak with the children in her chambers, and allow them to speak freely for themselves.
Cece Yara Foundation took custody of the children in 2019 over allegation that Arewa was having carnal knowledge of his two daughters and for his refusal to release the children for forensic examination.
However, in a twist of event, a driver in UNILAG Staff School, Abiodun Matthew, was accused of defiling the minor, and is presently serving life imprisonment term at the Kirikiri facility.
Arewa, who appeared for himself, told the court that his children are not properly catered for and that they are being provided with second-hand clothes in the custody of Cece Yara Foundation, when they are the children of a “professor of law.”
He said that the last time he saw his children was in May 2022 and alleged that the Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu is using his influence with the school where his children are attending in persecuting his person.
He further told the court that the mother of the children, a banker is not capable of caring for the children due to her work and that he remained the best person to cater for the children, who are seven and 10 years old.
Arewa had sued on behalf of himself and his two children, (names withheld) against the Lagos State attorney general and commissioner of justice and others.
In the suit, the UNILAG associate professor asked to be granted six reliefs, one of which is an order for the immediate release of his daughters, and an order quashing the forensic interview so long as it disparages the interest of the minors purportedly conducted by Cece Yara Foundation without the consent and participation of the parents.
He urged the court to declare the forensic interview illegal, void and of no effect.
