An Akwa Ibom State High Court sitting in Uyo, the state capital, has ordered the arrest of a father of one, Mr Itoro Monday Uko of Monday Akpan Uko’s family in Itak Ikot Udo, Ikot Ekpene local government area for contempt of court.
Itoro Uko reportedly abandoned his wife and his only child; a two-year-old girl in the village to live with his girlfriend otherwise known as “side chick”, in Ikot Ekpene town.
Therefore, the trial judge, Justice Ntong Ntong, issued the order after hearing the counsel to the applicant and mother of the child, Barrister Ekom Friday Inwang, following the absence of the contempt violator and his counsel.
The applicant, a private school teacher from Mkpat Enin LGA, told the court that apart from neglecting his responsibilities as a father in providing the needs of his child, the respondent also refused to refund the N200,000 loan she collected for her fleeing husband to fix his car since March 2022.
She recalled that they got married on 18th January, 2020 and gave birth to her first child after which, she got pregnant for the second child, when her husband started to beat her resulting in her first miscarriage.
Also, she informed the court that she got pregnant again for the third time and her husband continued assaulting her and she was rushed to a hospital due to bleeding in May, 2022, where she spent three days in the hospital during which her husband did not show up, adding that it was her siblings that footed her medical bills.
She said she had to travel to her village in Mkpat Enin for her mother to take care of her till she fully recovered, adding that throughout her stay, her husband did not call or visit.
Upon recovery on 4th July 2022, the applicant said she went to her husband’s family home in Itak Ikot Udo, where they were living to find out why her husband did not visit, but to her surprise, the keys to their apartment were changed and she could not have access into the house to pick her clothes and that of her child.
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