10th April, 2014
A 25-year old woman, Adijat Waheed, on Wednesday rejected the paternity of her father, Mr. Jimoh Asabari, at a Grade ‘C’ Customary Court sitting in Iseyin, Oyo State.
Adijat told the court that she instituted the case against Asabari because many people in the area had told her that he was not her biological father.
“I grew up in Abeokuta where I lived with Asabari’s sister; she maltreated me a lot and I ran out of the house to Saki to some of her relatives.
“Until last year, I did not know any member of my family except the sister who claimed she was my father’s younger sister.
“When I got to Saki, I told them what has been going on and insisted on knowing my parents, so they took me to Iseyin and said Asabari was my father.
“I was happy to meet him, but that happiness was short-lived as so many people in the neighborhood kept telling me the man was not my real father.
“I then confronted him on the matter, but he said he was my biological father. I, however, insisted he takes me to my mother and he did.
“Then, my mother told me that my real father is Waheed; that’s why I instituted this case with the name Adijat Waheed.
“My mother told me that when she was three months pregnant, she had a minor disagreement with my father.
“She said she went to Asabari, who is a herbalist, for a charm to persuade my father so that he could forgive her, but he instead gave her a love charm.
“She said the charm made her to pack out of her matrimonial home to live with Asabari while still pregnant.
“Asabari later drove her out and he took me at a tender age of one year to live with his sister at Abeokuta,” she said.
The complainant said that it was only later that she realised that Asabari was not her father.
She appealed to the court to restrain Asabari from regarding himself as her father, saying “I now know my father and he knows me.”
Corroborating Adijat’s claim, her mother, Aduke, said that it was true that she married Asabari while she was three months pregnant for Waheed.
She, however, attributed her action to a charm she claimed she received from Asabari.
Aduke, who could not control her emotions, claimed that Asabari threw out her belongings and collected the baby from her after living with him for about 15 months.
“I tried to recover my baby, but he was threatening and intimidating me, so I ran away from Iseyin for a very long period,” she said.
Asabari was not in court to respond to the allegations.
In his ruling, the court’s President, Mr. Kareem Adelodun, decried Asabari’ absence in court and ordered that another summon be served on him.
While appealing to Adijat and her mother to maintain peace, he advised them to appear with their witnesses at the next adjourned date.
Adelodun adjourned the case till April 17.