CONFESSION: “Why I abandoned my kids in boarding school for 8 years”

Father of the three children who were abandoned in a boarding school for eight years has finally come out to explain the rational or irrational behind his action.

Mr. Adepegba, (Left). the children. (Right). Photo credit Punch/Toluwani Eniola

The man, Mr Segun Adepegba, who was reported by PUNCH to have dumped the kids in the school and fled, told the newspaper yesterday that economic hardship forced him to abandon his children.

Three children, Seun Adepegba, 14, Titilola, 13 and Seyi, 10 have been in a boarding school, Solid Model College in Abule-Iroko in the Ado-Odo Ota Local Government Area of Ogun State for eight years and are yet to set their eyes on their parents since then. They were six, five and 2 when their father enrolled them in the school.

After he couldn’t ignore the report of his actions that was all over the media on Tuesday, Adepegba reached out to PUNCH and explained that “life has been very tough for me.”, saying that he left the kids because he had no job and no house to accommodate them.

He spoke further:“In 2007, my wife and I had a misunderstanding and she told me she was leaving me. I was frustrated and the children were little. Seyi, the youngest was just two years while Titilola was just five.

“There was no way I could give them motherly care. I had no job. As a man, I needed someone to help me take care of them and that was why my sister suggested that we enroll them in a boarding school.”

He also said that the children’s school bills kept accumulating even when he had no means to pay up.

 “I feared that if I suddenly appeared at the school, the proprietor would get the police to arrest me” he said. “I really appreciate the proprietor of Solid Rock Model College, for coming to my rescue and accepting the responsibility to help me take care of   my children. The truth is this: I was pushed to the wall. I didn’t want my children to be beggars on the street.

“All these years, I have been jobless. I had no house to live in. I was putting up with someone. I just rented a one-room apartment and just got a job. I am not a wicked father. I really miss them but I am gradually overcoming the challenges I have been facing. I did not abandon them in that sense. I can assure you that before the week runs out, I will visit them.”

About his wife, he said: “The last time we saw each other was probably in 2007 when she left me. I have been trying to reach her but my search has not been fruitful. I heard that she is somewhere in the northern part of the country,” he said.

The school proprietor who reported the matter to the police said he did not do it to get him arrested for his debt.

His words: “I have nothing against Mr Adepegba and I understand his plight. My grievance was that he kept on rejecting my calls and abandoned his children. How could he as a father leave his children for this long? It is not a good thing.”

Read the initial story: Three children abandoned in boarding school for 8 years