A South African woman based in Greece, has blamed the South African Police Services (SAPS) for failing to prevent the alleged forceful abduction of her two children by the family of her estranged and now deceased ex Nigerian husband.
Speaking to Independent Media, all the way from Greece, Vivienne Patzold said after opening three abduction cases with the Germiston police in 2008 on the suspicion that her husband’s family was planning to take her then two-year-old daughter and 7-year-old son to Nigeria, she went to the police, but her three cases that she opened all vanished into thin air.
Patzold said the past 20 years without her children had been a daily nightmare as her children were told lies that she had remarried and did not want her children.
The mother of two, who is about to be reunited with her son, after successfully tracking her now 27-year-old-son through social media, spoke of her pain after losing her two children, 7-year-old Kingsley Okechukwu Chidi and two year-old daughter, Irene Kasiri Chidi.
She claims that relatives of her then Nigerian husband, who after his death, orchestrated an elaborate plan to take her children away from her in order to benefit from his Joburg house and security business.
“In 2004 my two children were kidnapped from South Africa without any permission from me... they were removed and taken to Nigeria where they have been abused and exploited.
“I blame the police who failed to heed my calls and failed to help me prevent the abduction of my children and all the three cases I opened with them vanished into thin air.
“Two weeks ago, after 21 years, through my daily searches on social media, I found that my children are stuck and suffering in Nigeria with no family,“ said Patzold.
According to Patzold, her anguish began when her husband, Christopher Onu Chidi was granted SA citizenship following their marriage in 1996.
“Twenty years ago, I married my Nigerian husband with whom I had two children, a boy and a girl. Our problems began immediately after he received his SA papers. He started abusing and beating me up and immediately filed for divorce. I was a victim of domestic violence and because he had money, he was granted full custody of our children. I went from department to department and opened no less than three cases, which all disappeared into thin air... when he died, his brother took over his business and told me he was taking my children to Nigeria as this was his brother’s wish,” she said.
Patzold says her efforts to get in contact with her children were thwarted whenever she came to their house and eventually this led to complete disappearance of her children who she says were abducted without her consent and knowledge and taken to Nigeria, where they remain to this day.
The mother of two who is now working around the clock to arrange a reunion with her children said through daily searches on social media, she recently saw a picture of her eldest son and immediately recognised him and reached out to him to inform him of his real identity and citizenship.
“Two weeks ago, I was on social media trying to locate my children, when I came across the picture of my son. I reached out to him immediately, but he did not respond until after a few hours. I told him that I have been searching for him and his sister after they were stolen from me by their Nigerian family. He told me that they were told that I had remarried and had no time for them which is why they were taken to Nigeria,” she said.
Patzold says her son has told him of endless abuse at the hands of his Nigerian relatives while her daughter has been brainwashed against her and is not willing to return home.
“My son has told me that he suffered abuse two years after being taken after the money from their father’s businesses stopped coming in. I suspect that the real motive behind the abduction of my kids was to get their hands on my late husband’s money. His house was sold instead of being placed in a trust...My son has just applied for his SA ID at the SA consulate in Nigeria, and will be coming to SA to sort out some of his documents and soon after, will come to Greece. As for my daughter, she has been brainwashed and wants nothing to do with me. I am told that she will be getting married to her Nigerian boyfriend,” she said.
Kingsley who is looking forward to being reunited with his mother after more than 20 years of forced separation, told Saturday Star that the past 20 years has been traumatic for him and his sister who were emotionally and physically abused by their father’s family.
“ I can confirm that when my dad passed away in October 2007, me and my sister were sent or rather kidnapped and sent to Nigeria in the 2007 without my mom’s consent. After his burial my late dad’s brothers agreed that one of them will go to SA and that we (my sister and I) will stay with the other. However, my father’s brother by the name of Wisdom Chidi Olubiri took charge of my dad’s property and me and my little sister, but when he left for SA , he turned his back on us, leaving us to suffer for 17 years in Nigeria. Whenever I asked after the house he would tell us that he sold our father’s property but would not tell us what happened to the money due to us. We suffered in Nigeria while my father’s brother lived happily in South Africa,” Kingsley told Saturday Star.
Kingsley said there were days when he and his sister did not have food to eat saying: “The past 17 years have been a traumatic experience for us. There were days when it so hard to have a meal. Up to this day the man has refused to give me details about the property since I am now of age. We basically grew up almost 20 years of our life without our mom and without the truth until my mother found me,“ he said.
SAPS provincial spokesperson, Colonel Kweza confirmed that the matter was investigated by the Germiston police station saying she will make follow-ups on what happened to the investigation.
“I am told that this was with FCS in Germiston. I will have to follow-up with them tomorrow as I am outside on operations,” she said.