Ahmedabad Times

British authorities have launched a manhunt for a Nigerian-British man accused of abducting his five-year-old son from France to Nigeria after he was wrongly launched from a London jail and will have fled the UK inside days.Ifedayo Adeyeye, 58, walked free from HMP Pentonville in London on April 21 regardless of being handed an extra 12-month jail sentence only a day earlier for repeatedly defying courtroom orders to return his son, Laurys, to his mom in France.Based on courtroom proceedings reported by Sky Information, Adeyeye spent hours “strolling about” London after his launch, having fun with dinner and drinks at a pub earlier than allegedly travelling to Spain the following day. Police had been reportedly knowledgeable concerning the jail blunder solely three days later, triggering sharp criticism from the courtroom.Calling it a stunning state failure, Excessive Court docket decide Mr Justice Hayden mentioned jail authorities confirmed an “alarming lack of urgency”.“If the police had been contacted instantly, this might maybe, virtually actually maybe, have been prevented. The general public is entitled to count on much better than this,” the decide mentioned.

Little one kidnapped throughout first in a single day keep

The case centres on Laurys N’Djosse Adeyeye, a five-year-old boy born in France to Adeyeye and Claire N’Djosse, a Cameroonian nationwide.The couple met in Grenoble in 2020 and later separated. After DNA exams confirmed Adeyeye was Laurys’ organic father, a French courtroom granted him supervised visitation rights whereas full custody remained with the mom.Hassle started in July 2024 throughout Laurys’ first in a single day keep along with his father.As a substitute of returning the kid, Adeyeye allegedly took him from France to England after which to Nigeria with out the mom’s consent.When N’Djosse sought solutions, Adeyeye allegedly claimed the kid had gone on a “two-week vacation” with kin. Investigators later found he had secretly eliminated Laurys from France.French authorities subsequently issued a global arrest warrant towards him over little one abduction allegations.UK courtroom invokes uncommon powersThe matter later took a rare authorized flip when England’s Excessive Court docket dominated it had the authority to order the kid’s return although Laurys was exterior Britain.Justice Hayden famous that the case was extremely uncommon as a result of it concerned three international locations — France, the UK and Nigeria. The courtroom additionally noticed that Nigeria shouldn’t be a signatory to the Hague Conference on Worldwide Little one Abduction, complicating efforts to safe the boy’s return.Regardless of this, the Excessive Court docket invoked its “inherent jurisdiction” primarily based on Laurys’ British nationality and ordered Adeyeye to return the kid on to France.After repeatedly ignoring courtroom orders, Adeyeye was jailed for contempt of courtroom in January 2026 for six months. Whereas serving that sentence, he was discovered responsible of additional breaches and handed one other 12-month sentence on April 20.Nonetheless, jail officers allegedly did not course of the brand new sentence in time, leading to his mistaken launch the following morning.

Choose calls abduction ‘act of cruelty’

Justice Hayden described Adeyeye as “boastful and manipulative”, “chilly and calculated”, and mentioned the kidnapping was “an act of cruelty that even this courtroom not often sees”.“He finds himself in an alien nation now, with out his father or mom,” the decide mentioned about Laurys, including that the kid’s whole world had been “snatched away”.The decide additionally highlighted issues raised throughout supervised visits in France earlier than the kidnapping. Employees on the contact centre reportedly described Adeyeye as aggressive, dismissive and tired of understanding his son’s routines or emotional wants.

Suspect might have fled to Spain

Throughout the newest listening to, Metropolitan Police instructed the courtroom that Adeyeye might have travelled to Spain on April 22, someday after his mistaken launch. Spanish authorities have reportedly been alerted.The courtroom heard that jail officers blamed a “communication failure” with the courts for the discharge, a declare Justice Hayden rejected as “totally groundless”.Attorneys representing Ms N’Djosse accused British authorities of repeatedly failing the mom and little one.“Not solely has the state failed her by the discharge of the daddy, however the state has failed her by not informing the Metropolitan Police promptly,” her lawyer Chris Bryden mentioned.

Court docket lifts anonymity to help search

In a uncommon transfer, the Excessive Court docket allowed publication of the identities and pictures of each Adeyeye and Laurys in a bid to assist hint them.Household courtroom proceedings involving kids are normally saved confidential, however the decide dominated that the distinctive circumstances and public curiosity justified transparency.The UK Ministry of Justice mentioned it’s working with police to recapture Adeyeye and acknowledged rising issues over mistaken prisoner releases.Official knowledge exhibits 179 inmates had been wrongly launched throughout England and Wales between April 2025 and March 2026.