A major controversy is currently threatening the peace of Alagbado, a suburb of Lagos.
A
man, Akeem Amodu, and his wife, Awawu Oluyide, are at daggers’ drawn
over who the true father of their one-month-old baby girl is. The baby
was christened on February 17 but the ceremony wasn’t held in Amodu’s
house. Before the date, Awawu had packed her belongings and relocated to
the home of her boyfriend with her baby. She claimed her husband was
not the true dad of the baby, insisting that she had just returned the
baby to the authentic father. But Amodu would have none of that. He is
insisting that the baby girl is his daughter.
At
Fagbenro and Abeokuta streets, Alagbado, in Alimosho Local Government
Area of Lagos, where the couple and their parents reside, the
controversy rages on, as many wonder who the biological father of the
innocent baby girl is. Trouble started when Amodu discovered that his
wife had suddenly abandoned their matrimonial home for her boyfriend’s
place. He reported the matter to the police and detectives went with him
to the home of the wife’s boyfriend.
The
officers then directed that Awawu and her baby should relocate to her
parents’ house and remain there. They said a DNA test would be conducted
on the baby when she’s nine months to determine her paternity. But
Amodu said in direct contravention of the police directive, Awawu and
her baby were caught on March 1, passing the night in her boyfriend’s
house.
When
the reporter met with Awawu recently, the young woman didn’t deny being
Amodu’s wife but she maintained that her baby’s real father was her
boyfriend. She said: “He is just a thief, who wants to claim what is not
his. I was once his wife and in 2010, I gave birth to a baby for him
but the baby later died. When I was with him, I was always having
problems. He never gave me any rest of mind. That was why I packed out
of his house and came to stay with my parents. I stayed with my parents
for more than a year. “But he and his mother were always coming to beg
me in my parents’ house, pleading that I should reconcile with him.
But
during that time, I was already having a relationship with another man.
I later took in for the other man. Amodu came again and I told him that
I was already pregnant for another man. But he kept begging me, saying
he would take care of me and the baby and that I could then give the
other man his child. He said I should come back to him so that I could
give him his own child too. “So, I went back to him. By that time, the
man that got me pregnant was not in Lagos. But when he eventually came
back, I told Amodu that the man, who owned the pregnancy had returned
and wanted to have his baby.
Amodu
then asked for a refund of the money he had given me for buying the
baby’s things and we got it for him. “But after getting the refund, he
came back with policemen a couple of days ago to harass me, claiming
that the child is his.” But Amodu insisted he’s the father of the baby
girl. His words: “Yes, Awawu once had a baby for me but the baby died
after some time. After the death of the baby, we had a quarrel and she
moved to her parents’ house. But after some time, she started coming to
see my mother, begging her to talk to me so I could take her back.
When
my mother asked me to settle with her, I warned my mother that Awawu
was a troublesome woman but my mother begged me and I settled with her.
She started coming to my place but she didn’t move in with me.” “After
sometime, she told me that she had taken in for me. She never told me
another man was responsible for her pregnancy. It was in May last year
that she told me she had taken in for me. And I told my mother about it.
By July last year, my mother took her to a doctor for pregnancy tests
and it was confirmed that she was already two months pregnant.
During
that time, I was always buying things for her at her parents’ place.
Almost everybody knows me in her family house. We had even done some of
the traditional wedding rites. “My mother is dead now. But before her
death, Awawu once told my mother and I about a man she said was giving
her ante-natal care, so we went to see the man to thank him. She also
told me of a church where she said she would be attending for the safety
of the baby but I refused. I chose a hospital for her instead.
She
never told me I wasn’t responsible for the pregnancy all that time.
There was even a time she met with a lady in my place. She fought
seriously with the lady, accusing her of wanting to snatch her husband.
“When the pregnancy was about eight months, she collected N50,000 from
me to buy the necessary baby’s things but at some point, I began to
smell a rat. The first two times she had a scan, she used my surname for
the baby. But on the third occasion, she used her name only. And the
delivery was almost due. When I asked her why she did that, she said she
forgot. I wondered how she could have forgotten such an important
thing.
“One
day, I sent money to her as usual but she refused the money. And when I
asked her why she did that, she said she didn’t need anything from me
any longer. That was when she said I wasn’t the father of the baby. That
was about the time she would give birth. Meanwhile, I had already
prepared for the christening of the baby. I already bought many things
to do the naming ceremony. That was when she refunded the money I had
given her for the baby’s things. She then moved to the house of the man
she said was responsible for her pregnancy.
She
delivered the baby there and the baby was christened there. “But I am
sure I’m the father of the baby. That is why I want everyone to know
this. The police told us to wait till the baby is nine months old before
we go for the DNA but I am worried because she and the baby are with
the other man. And if she and the man are sleeping together, the DNA
might show the man as the father of the baby. “That is why I want this
matter resolved now. I am convinced that the baby is mine and I want my
baby.
When
we brought the police into the matter, they ordered that she and the
baby should remain with her parents until the DNA test was conducted and
the authentic father known. But on March 1, she took the baby to the
other man’s house and passed the night there. She has been doing that in
defiance to the instruction given by the police.”
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