The Baby Mama WHO TAKES CUSTODY OF CHILDREN BORN OUT OF WEDLOCK
The question before My Court today is whether:
Mr. Odechi who is the father of Princess can take Junior away from Miss Rosemary who is the mother and who has been taking care of Him for 10 years now without any contribution from Mr. Odechi.
Lawyers to Mr. Odechi and Miss Rosemary have indeed argued valiantly before Me today with the highest candour and professionalism and I specially commend them for proving the fees that they have earned. A brief fact of the case is that Mr. Odechi and Miss Rosemary dated each other and fell in love, as is the culture in Our society. It is pertinent to note that they were not married.
Mr. Odechi instructed Miss Rosemary to abort the issue and further threatened to deny the pregnancy if She doesn’t. He indeed denied the issue until DNA evidence proved that He was indeed the father. The resulting issue from the amorous affair is Junior who was born about 10 years ago, coincidentally, today is His birthday, so this Court says happy birthday to Junior.
The Lawyer to Mr. Odechi argued that since his Client was proven to be the father of Junior through DNA evidence, He is entitled to have custody of Junior. He also relied heavily on the highly respected Yoruba and Igbo Customs. He further argued that because Junior is a grownup boy strong fatherly care is of utmost importance in order to make Him form properly. He therefore concluded that Mr. Odechi ought to be granted custody of Junior. He cited numerous cases in support of all His points.
Miss Rosemary’s Lawyer vehemently objected to the arguments proffered on behalf of Mr. Odechi and instead argued that She ought to be allowed to continue to have custody of Junior as the person who has been catering for all of His needs from the date that He was born to the present day. He further argued that it is in the best interest of Junior that He is not given to a total stranger. He cited numerous cases in support of all His points.
The position of the Law as it pertains to Child Custody is that the Court will always prioritise all that is in the best interest of the Child. The Actions of Mr. Odechi, from the facts of the case, have only proven that He is callous and has not shown anything in His actions to prove that He has the best interest of Junior at heart. The Court will uphold culture and customs at all times but will not uphold it if it is inhuman as in this case.
Mr. Udochi needs to know that the Law has really changed and a man cannot just lay claim to the custody of a Child only because He is the Biological father of the Child. He must be able to show, in addition, that He is a doting and loving father of the Child. It used to be that there is discrimination between who takes custody of a child in similar scenarios based on the age and sex of the child but the Constitution has now put an end to that.
Indeed any of both parents who show responsibility and who best serves the interest on the Child will always have the nod of the Court in a case of Custody and any parent who does not is sure to draw the Court’s anger. The Court frowns at people who want to reap where they did not sow.
MY JUDGMENT IS THEREFORE AS FOLLOWS:
1. Miss Rosemary should retain exclusive custody of the Child for the next 3 years with no visiting right to Mr. Odechi.
2. Mr. Odechi should pay a sum of N3,000,000.00 (Three Million Naira) to Miss Rosemary in six equal installments over a course of three years, the first installment to be paid one month after the date of this judgment, as a refund for Monies she has spent over the years for the totality of the expenses incurred on taking care of Junior.
3. Junior should continue to attend the school He is currently attending and Mr. Odechi should continue with the payment of the school fees and pay a monthly sum of N50,000.00 (Fifty thousand Naira) Only to Miss Rosemary for the upkeep of Junior.
Again I thank both Lawyers for their diligence.
I shall now rise.
©Eko Solicitors and Advocates
AUTHOR; JUSTICE OJIENOH