A dramatic paternity dispute unfolded at the Justice Court as a man identified as Ogunlade Kehinde Samuel dragged his wife, Ogunlade Ibiwunmi Joy before the court to confirm the paternity of one of their children after years of doubt and marital crisis.
Presiding over the matter, Judge Funmi Asaolu heard arguments from both parties after Samuel filed an action seeking to establish whether the child he had raised for years was biologically his.
Explaining why he approached the court, Samuel said, “For the past eight years in my marriage, I have been maltreated and cheated a lot. With recent evidence, the children that I believed were mine and whom I have fathered for eight years in every capacity I can as a man, I began to find some element of doubt.
“In every man, when you have feelings that are not positive, it kills more than anything. I just want to clear the doubt and be 100 per cent sure that these children are actually mine, even if I cannot certify if anybody has entered there apart from me, but I should be able to ascertain that my kids are mine 100 per cent.”
When asked about their relationship, Samuel told the court, “She’s my wife. We married traditionally, in church, and through statutory marriage.”
Responding, the defendant told the court that she was at work when the proprietress of her children’s school called to inform her that Samuel had come to pick one of the children. She said she immediately instructed the school not to release the child to him because he had abandoned the family since the previous year after they were evicted from their apartment.
She further stated that Samuel had labelled the children bastards and insisted that she would continue to care for them with God’s help.
The defendant accused Samuel of forcefully taking one of the children for a DNA test without her consent. According to her, if he intended to carry out a DNA test, it should have involved all three children and not just one child.
She added that Samuel had earlier sent her a message informing her that the DNA test would be conducted either that day or the next day.
Despite her objections to the process, she clarified that she had no problem with DNA tests being conducted on all three children.
After hearing both parties, Judge Funmilayo read the DNA result in court and confirmed that Kend Samuel was the biological father of the tested female child, Erica.
Addressing Samuel, the judge said the DNA result had confirmed that Erica was his biological child and advised him to put his doubts to rest.
When asked whether he still wanted DNA tests conducted on the other children, Samuel declined.
The defendant, however, expressed concern over the emotional impact of Samuel’s accusations, especially the fact that the children had been labelled bastards.
In response, Judge Funmilayo advised her to consult her lawyer if she intended to pursue a defamation case against Samuel.
Counsel to the defendant also faulted the manner in which the DNA test was conducted, arguing that the child was taken from school without the mother’s consent.
However, the judge noted that conversations between the couple showed the defendant was already aware Samuel intended to conduct DNA tests on all three children before the test was conducted. The judge subsequently struck out the case after reaffirming that Erica was Samuel’s biological daughter…….See More
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