“This Is Kidnapping to Me”: South African Woman Stuck in Nigeria Desperately Wants Her Son Back Home

• A South African woman travelled to Nigeria to bring her young son home after six years apart, but was refused access to the child and is now stuck in the country
• The child's Nigerian father is living in Centurion with a new family, leaving the boy in the care of elderly grandparents while his mother fights to get him back
• People online were divided in the comments, with the conversation taking unexpected turns while the woman pleaded for help

A South African mother had people across the internet heartbroken after she shared a desperate video from a hotel room in Nigeria, where she has been stuck trying to get her son back. Ayanda shared her story on 15 April 2026, breaking down in tears as she explained the situation she has found herself in. She travelled all the way to Nigeria to bring her child home after six years, only to be turned away and denied any access to him whatsoever.

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The backstory goes back six years. She left her son with his father. The Nigerian man has since returned to South Africa and is now living in Pretoria with a new family. The child was left behind in Nigeria in the care of the father's elderly parents. When his mother finally made it back to Nigeria to fetch him, the family refused to let her see the boy or take him home. In the video, she explained that she has been eating one meal a day to stretch her money, moving from hotel to hotel. She is currently running out of funds and waiting for her family to send her money just so she can visit the South African embassy.

What made her story even harder to hear was the reason she said was given for keeping the child from her. She said that if the child went with her, the father said that he would be left with zero children out of three. She said she has never once tried to stop the father from seeing his other children and that all she wants is for her son to come home so he can feel love from both of his parents.

She made it clear that once she returns to South Africa, she plans to open a case, saying that what is happening to her child is like a kidnapping situation.

Watch the TikTok clip below:

Mzansi reacts to SA woman's story

The comments section went in all directions on TikToker @ayandamabula's clip:

@Peace Magents said:

"The child is home with his dad. Nothing wrong."

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@Tommy Tjabadi🇿🇦 wrote:

"We are too lazy to help, eish. Sorry, my sister."

@nyeleti.ndlovu23 said:

"Please tell Malema, my sister."

@Azile Amantombazane🍒🪩 added:

"People casually having unrelated conversations on this comment section is ending me 😭"

@Okay what's happening wrote:

"The video says something else and the comments say something else 😭😭"

@Thandeka Sangweni said:

"Bought myself new sneakers, cash no deposit 😁"

@Malesela wrote:

"Guys, I chose a university course to shock my community and now the course is also shocking me 😭😭😭"

More on South Africa and Nigeria

• Briefly News recently reported on a Nigerian man at the centre of a major scandal in the Eastern Cape that started violent protests.
• A Nigerian woman living in South Africa posted a very honest warning to South African women married to Nigerian men about what really awaits them.
• A Nigerian woman took a tour of a one-bedroom Pretoria apartment and made a bold claim about how it compares to what Lagos offers for the same money.

Source: Briefly News