Story in full THE father of a four-year-old girl snatched by her mother made an emotional appeal yesterday for the return of the child, whom he fears may be taken out of the country.

The 48-year-old telecommunications engineer fears that his estranged wife, Ogonna Topple, who uses the name Jane, will head for London with the girl before trying to get to Nigeria, where she has family.

Fighting back tears, he said the family had spent the day out together in Edinburgh when his wife suddenly opened the car door, got out and grabbed Daniella, putting her over her shoulder as she ran off. Stuck in traffic, he was unable to give chase and she disappeared.

"By the time I'd turned my head she was gone at great speed," he said. "She was running away, I could see Daniella's face over her shoulder. Daniella was screaming, she was very upset."

He said he was worried about how his daughter would manage in a strange country. "She's a very cheerful young girl, she makes friends very easily. But she knows probably what is going on now - she is four-and-a-half and she'll be very, very upset. She will be very, very worried."

And he urged his 29-year-old wife to return to Edinburgh for the sake of their daughter.

"Please come back, we can sort things out. We will both be seeing Daniella for the rest of our lives - there is no need to run off like this. Please come home," he said.

The couple met in Ghana in July 1999 and when Mr Topple moved on, Jane went with him. Daniella was born in Bolivia in 2001 and the couple stayed in a number of countries before moving to Australia to set up home.

However, Mr Topple said there were problems in the marriage and they moved to Edinburgh - Mr Topple's home town - at the start of this month in an attempt to make a fresh start and patch up their difficulties. When the problems continued, he said he decided that a separation would be in Daniella's best interests and secured a court order granting him custody of the child.

Mrs Topple snatched Daniella on Saturday afternoon. The family had spent the morning at the National Museum of Scotland in Chambers Street before eating lunch at the KFC restaurant in Meadowbank and driving to Holyrood Park, where Daniella wanted to see the ducks.

Detective Sergeant Stuart Hood, of Lothian and Borders Police, said Mrs Topple had not been seen since.

He said: "We are increasingly concerned about the wellbeing of Daniella and would appeal to anyone who may have seen her to come forward immediately. Daniella's mother took her without any clothing other than what she was wearing and we believe she may be attempting to leave Scotland with the child. It is thought that she may head for London and may try to take the child to Nigeria."

Police said Mrs Topple, who is 5ft 6ins tall, dark-skinned and with black, curly hair, had trained as a hairdresser and may looked for part-time work to raise funds. She was last seen in the Whitehouse Loan area wearing brown trousers, a denim top, a dark-brown cord hat and a distinctive leather necklace with a bullet-shaped pendant.

Daniella is dark-skinned, around 3ft 6ins tall, with long shoulder-length, brown, curly hair. She was wearing a pink cardigan, a purple cord dress with flowers, and red and white trainers. She was also wearing gold hoop earrings and has a small scar on her forehead.

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