An Igbosere Magistrate’s Court in Lagos has granted custody rights to
Eniola, son of multi-billionaire businessman, Mike Adenuga, over his
16-month old daughter.
But his girlfriend with whom he had the child, Maggie Ogun, a pharmacist, has sought the court’s leave to appeal the order.
Chief Magistrate O. A. Ogunbowale dismissed Ogun’s objection that Adenuga cannot take adequate care of the child.
“Consequently,
the applicant (Adenuga) is hereby granted an overnight access to the
subject (child) every fortnight from 8 am on Saturday to 12 noon on
Sunday,” she ruled. The order, she said, took effect from March 16 and
would subsist until the case is determined.
But, Ogun, through
her lawyer, Mrs Marian Jones of the International Federation of Women
Lawyers (FIDA), has applied to the magistrate for leave to appeal the
ruling.
She is also praying for an order suspending the ruling’s
execution, as well as an order praying for a stay of proceedings pending
the appeal’s determination.
The
magistrate’s absence stalled the application’s hearing on Wednesday.
Adenuga also applied to the court to change his counsel from the firm of
Adesokan & Adesokan to Akintunde Williams & Co.
In his
supporting affidavit in support of his motion for custody, the
applicant, who works at Conoil Producing Limited, said he started “an
amorous affair” with Ogun in October 2013.
He said she informed
him in 2014 that she was pregnant with his child, following which he
took full responsibility for their welfare.
Adenuga said he paid
for her ante natal care at Reddington Hospital, gave her N100,000
monthly and took her to London where she was delivered of a baby girl on
October 23, 2014.
He said he paid the bills worth 22,000 pounds,
purchased a first class Lagos-London return ticket for her, and
accommodated Ogun and her mother in his Cadogan Gardens, London home.
The applicant said Ogun returned to Lagos last January, three months after her delivery, and denied him access to the child.
“I
was denied access by the respondent to see my daughter on the ground
that I was not interested in marrying her. I sought her understanding in
this regard and reminded her of the fact that we had both agreed to end
the relationship as it was heading to nowhere,” he said.
Adenuga
said Ogun’s mother insisted that he would only see the child on the
condition that he married Ogun. Thus, he was not allowed to see his
child between last March and October.
According to him, on one
occasion that he was allowed access to the house, he observed that Ogun
left his daughter in the care of a security man who doubled as
houseboy/nanny and her grandmother, a septuagenarian.
“I was
shocked at the unhealthy, unhygienic and unsafe environment in which my
daughter was being brought up,” he said, adding that he sends N200,000
to Ogun monthly for their upkeep.
Adenuga said he enrolled his
daughter at a “world-class” crèche where he paid N600,000 per term. He
said he was only able to see his daughter when he organised a birthday
party for her, and when he took her and Ogun to Dubai on holiday.
“On getting back to Nigeria, the respondent reverted to denying me custody and access to my daughter,” he told the court.
On
why he wants custody of the child, Adenuga said: “The respondent is
unwilling to create time needed to care for my daughter physically,
emotionally and mentally and I reasonably believe that my daughter
currently lacks motherly attention.”
But Ogun, in her
counter-claim, said she never denied Adenuga access to his child. She
said from last May to October, she took her daughter to the applicant’s
mother’s residence in Victoria Island every weekend.
She said she
also took the daughter to the applicant’s father’s house on Banana
Island at least thrice a week and sometimes slept over.
According
to Ogun, problem arose when Adenuga’s mother demanded that she and the
daughter spend two weeks monthly at her residence. Ogun said her family
refused because she was not married to Adenuga.
According to her,
she was trying to resolve the issue amicably when Adenuga, on October
13 last year, came to her home in company of a policeman demanding that
his daughter be produced, and in the process assaulted her mother and
damaged her phone when she tried to record the scene.
She denied
keeping her daughter in the care of a security man, saying: “During my
working hours and prior to when my daughter started attending crèche,
she is left in the care of my grandmother and my nanny.”
Ogun
also denied that her daughter is being brought up in an unhygienic and
unsafe environment. She claimed she pays her daughter’s medical bills at
Reddington Hospital, adding that Adenuga was not solely responsible for
her daughter’s welfare.
Ogun said a doctor certified her
daughter to be fit and healthy and that despite being born with a low
birth weight of 2.7kg, her current growth pattern was more than
satisfactory. Besides, she said the only time her daughter was ill, she
was diagnosed with an infection common to children when they start
crawling and teething and was promptly treated.
“I have never
denied the applicant access to my daughter, rather, he wants custody. I
don’t believe it is in my daughter’s interest that the applicant be
granted custody of my daughter,” she said.
According to her,
Adenuga “is not suited to cope with the demands of having full custody
of a 16-month old female child.” She added that “he does not have a
definite schedule” and “comes home by 12
Saturday, April 16, 2016
Mike Adenuga's Petulant Son Sues Lover For Custody of Their 16 Month Old Daughter
Mike Adenuga's Petulant Son Sues Lover For Custody of Their 16 Month Old Daughter
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