He abandoned us for his second wife, says mother of abused brothers

Mrs. Mojisola Faniyi, biological mother of Damilare Odebunmi, and his brother, Michael, who were rescued by residents of Owutu, Ikorodu, has said her ex-husband and father of her two sons, Seun Odebunmi, lied when he said she abandoned her children when they were toddlers.
28-year-old Mojisola, said although they were not officially married, they dated for about a year before their introduction when she was pregnant with their first child, Dami.
She said: “After I had our second child Michael, he abandoned me and our children. He said he was going to Lagos to get a job, but disappeared and never came back.

“Unknown to me, he was with another woman. Because I was naive, I thought things were difficult for him, so I kept struggling, taking care of the children.
“I did all sorts of menial jobs to put food on the table. He never for once sent money for our upkeep, neither did he ask about the welfare of his children or how I managed to feed, clothe and send them to school.
“I kept on keeping faith and praying that he would be successful, unknown to me that he had remarried.
“When my father passed on and the burden of catering for the children became overwhelming, I kept struggling and believing God.
“Exactly three years after he abandoned us, Dami fell very sick; he was about four years old, while Michael was two. I called to notify Seun of Dami’s health condition.
“Instead of coming to see how we were faring, he ordered me to take the children to his mother. He said if anything happened to his children, he will deal severely with me.
“Left with no option, I took our children to his mother, who resides around Iju and kept visiting them from time to time.”
During one of my visits, I received the shock of my life, when she told me that Seun had come to take the children from her because she requested for money for the upkeep of the children and to pay their school fees.
“Since then, Dami and Michael had lived with him and his wife for the past three years. Each time I called him to send me the address that I wanted to see the children he would refuse.
“It was not until this incident occurred that I received a call from a concerned resident in the neighbourhood, that my son Damilare was unconscious in the hospital.
“When I saw them in the hospital, I could not recognise them because they were so malnourished, sickly and unkempt, with scars all over their body.
“I do not want any trouble with him or his wife; all I want is to have custody of my children.”