British-Nigerian prisoner flees the UK after being mistakenly released from prison

Ifedayo Adeyeye, a British‑Nigerian man serving a UK prison sentence for abducting his son, has fled the country following an erroneous release.

During Monday’s resumed hearing, the court was informed that HMP Pentonville did not alert police to the accidental release, allowing Adeyeye three days before Scotland Yard announced a manhunt.

The Telegraph UK reported that a judge, in a June ruling, found Adeyeye had abducted his son from the mother, Claire N’Djosse, in France and transported the child to Nigeria through the United Kingdom.

The child, Laurys Adeyeye, was born in France and had been residing with his mother since birth.

The court also noted that July 27 2024, the date of the abduction, marked the first occasion Laurys spent the night with his father.

After refusing to return the child as ordered by the UK court, Adeyeye was arrested upon his return to the United Kingdom and sentenced in January to six months’ imprisonment for contempt of court.

On 20 April, he received an additional twelve‑month sentence for again failing to facilitate the child’s return to his mother.

He was reportedly released by mistake the following day because details of the new sentence were not communicated to the officers responsible for authorising his release.

After the error, the court permitted reporting of the case at a 1 May hearing, during which it criticised an “alarming lack of urgency” by prison officials.

The judge warned that immediate police notification could have prevented the incident, stating, “If the police had been contacted immediately, this could perhaps, almost certainly perhaps, have been prevented. The public is entitled to expect far better than this.”

At Monday’s hearing, the court was told that Adeyeye may have fled to Spain shortly after his release and is believed to have left the United Kingdom on 22 April.

“The Metropolitan Police recognises both the seriousness of this matter and how traumatic the present situation must be for both [Ms N’Djosse] and her son,”

“We are using the powers at our disposal to pursue all reasonable lines of enquiry to locate and arrest [Adeyeye] and will continue to do so diligently and expeditiously,” the police told the court on Monday.

The Telegraph UK further reported that the case was part of a