The paternity of two-year-old twins is causing ripples in the life of a Lagos ‘couple’ as the mother of the babies says her husband is not their biological father, adding that they belong to an unnamed man she had an extra-marital affair with, reports KUNLE AKINRINADE.
Wasiu Akinbode wore a pensive look penultimate week. Accompanied by his mother and his aunty, he could not freely expressed the troubling heartache that has turned him into ‘refugee’ in the last few weeks.
When he finally summoned courage to reveal his plight, it turned out to be an emotional and mental torture he has endured since his wife told him he was not the biological father of their two-year-old set of twins. …CONTINUE READING
Akinbode said: ‘’I was living with my wife, Aishat Abidemi, in Agege area of Lagos State before we relocated to Omi Ata area of Abule Egba shortly after we started raising our children.
“We had three children before the arrival of a set of twins about two years ago. But she recently broke my heart by telling me that I am not the father of our twin kids.
“She said the babies belong to another man despite the fact that we are still living together as a couple.
“We live together as a couple. It was in my own house she became pregnant and I took care of her while her pregnancy lasted and during her child delivery in a hospital.
“I even buried the babies’ placenta, because I know that I impregnated her.
‘’Sometime in October 2024 when we had a misunderstanding, she told me that I was not the father of our twins; a boy and a girl.
“I thought that she tried to use the paternity thing to get back at me because of our quarrels.
“The shock from what she told me made me to have an accident, because I was driving and on top speed when she told me on the phone that I was not the father of the babies.
“When I got home that night, I sat her down and spoke with her to desist from unnecessary quarrels over petty issues.
“But she said she was tired of me and that I should give her some time to sort herself out.
“She later apologised and said she concocted the paternity story to destabilise me for quarrelling with her.
“Then in February this year, she repeated the claim that I was not the father of the babies when we had another row.
“She started misbehaving at home shortly after she started worshipping in a white garment church her mother attends.
“Initially, I warned her against attending the church, because she was a member of an evangelical church, but she would not listen.
“Before long, she said she received an honourary appointment in the church. So she would abandon the home and welfare of our children to stay for days in the church under the guise of some ambiguous programmes.
“Our latest quarrel started after she left home for Mowe, Ogun State for a spiritual cleansing on a certain Saturday.
“She told me she would return the next day, but she did not.
“I called her on the phone and she disrespectfully said she would not return home on that day, citing the fact that she had an errand to run for her mother.
“I then told her not to return to my house, because I found her action disrespectful and suspicious.
“Our first child is 11 years old. She is a JSS 1 student, and others including the twins are also in school.
“She was younger when we got married, and I enrolled her for apprenticeship in hairdressing, sponsored her graduation, bought equipment for her and got her a shop for her salon business.
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“After her latest denial of my paternity of the babies, she took me to the human rights section of the Oke Odo Police Division and the policemen there told her to take the matter easy, but she refused.
“Instead, she transferred the matter to the Area P Command at Ipaja where we were asked to return on Wednesday with the children who are now living with my parents after she abandoned our home.
‘’When I reported her to her parents, they asked me to ignore her action and comments and find a means of settling the quarrel with her.
“Now, she would not want to wait till the time given to us to return to the police command with the babies and the man she claimed is their biological father.
“Instead, she had been using some policemen from the Area Command to harass and intimidate me.
“Policemen have been coming to my house and I have since fled from my home for my life.’’
Akinbode’s mother, who is also visibly disturbed by the development, said she warned her son about Abidemi’s attitude from the outset to no avail.
She said: ‘’In October last year, I warned my son to be careful with his wife after she refused to stop attending a white garment church.
“She would fight her husband with a knife, and their quarrels were becoming disturbing. At a point I had to visit her church to report her misbehavior to the pastor.
“My son has been married to Abidemi for more than 10 years, and his life should not be jeorpardised by a paternity yarn his wife has been spinning.
“I urge the public to come to the aid of my son and salvage him from the grip of his wife who is prepared to make his life miserable.”
Akinbode’s aunt, Mrs. Rukayat Kareem, said: ’’Kazeem’s (Akinbode’s) wife has never hidden her despicable lifestyle since they started life as a couple.
“I tried to intervene but she rebuked and reprimanded me on the phone. She stood her ground and restated that the twin babies belong to a man she has refused to reveal his name.
“When I asked her to reveal who exactly is the father of the babies so that we can carry out DNA test to determine who their real father is, she said the matter had gone beyond a DNA test, asking if we have the kind of money needed to sponsor the test.
“She said our miserable life would not allow us to provide the kind of money needed for a DNA test.
‘’She also told me that she could no longer cope with my brother’s poor finances and that she wanted to move on with her life.
“I pleaded and pleaded with her to rethink her actions for the sake of her children but she refused.
“She refused to produce the man she claimed is the father of the babies on Monday last week while she has been going around harassing my brother with policemen.
‘’’She again promised that the real father of the babies would come to the station on April 30, but she did not wait for the day before using policemen to harass Wasiu, lying that he abducted the babies and should be arrested.
“She has also gone to Wasiu’s mother’s residence to cause a stir and threatened the innocent woman who had sleepless nights at the hospital when the babies were sick and admitted for treatment.
“This matter has taken a toll on Wasiu’s health. Wasiu is sickly now. He used to be chubby but his health has deteriorated since the turn of event in his marriage.
“We urge the public to assist us in saving our son from this debacle, because we do not want to lose him.’’
In a telephone conversation with our reporter, Abidemi insisted Wasiu is not the father of the babies. She said the twins actually belong to a man whose identity she would not disclose.
Although she admitted that having children for another man while she was still living with Wasiu is not good, she explained that her husband pushed her into having an extra-marital affair.
She said: ‘’He (Akinbode) is not my husband. We just lived together as partners because we were not properly married.
“He impregnated me when I was 17 and he has been maltreating me ever since.
“Although he sponsored my apprenticeship as hairdresser, bought equipment for me and also got me a shop for my salon, he has suffered a reversal of fortune in his job as a mechanic and driver.
“He used to give money for my upkeep amid his occupational woes, but he no longer lives up to his responsibilities at home.
“However, it is instructive to say that he did not formalise our relationship by seeking my hand in marriage in the tradition of Yoruba to date.
“Therefore, I cannot be considered as his wife. I am only his partner and mother of his two eldest children; eleven and eight years old respectively.’’
She also denied the allegation that she attacked Akinbode with a knife, saying: ‘’I did not use a knife to attack him.
“I decided to change my church from evangelical to white garment church because of the nature of my spiritual problem.
“I should have left him after we had our first child, but people prevailed on me to stay with him and we had two more children.
“But he was no longer taking care of me like before. Instead, he maltreated me.
“Along the line, I met a man who was helping me and giving me money for upkeep, including feeding, and he did not know that I was living with another man as wife or partner.
“I got pregnant for the man and I was afraid to tell Wasiu (Akinbode) that I had an extra-marital affair with another man while we were still living together.”
The 29-year-old mother of four said she decided to report the matter to the police following the insistence of the unnamed father of the babies to have their custody.
“Although I know that what I did by having an intercourse with another man to the extent that it led to pregnancy and babies is shameful, Wasiu (Akinbode) pushed me into it by refusing to take care of me and my children.
“I have told him before that he is not the father of the twins, but I lacked the courage to sustain the narrative.
“The other children are his but not the twins. This time around, I summoned the courage to assert that he was not responsible for the pregnancy of the twin babies because the real father is demanding custody of the babies.
“I have told Wasiu’s parents and family members that I am prepared to submit the children for DNA test.
“Hence, I reported him to the Oke-Odo Police Division after he took the babies away from me and relocated them to his parents’ residence.
“When the matter did not have any headway at the police station, I transferred the case to the Area P Command at Ipaja, Lagos.
“He said that he would collect millions of naira if the babies were not confirmed as truly his.
“At the Area Command, we were asked to return on Wednesday April 23 and that he should produce the babies while their real father too should show up.
“But I sensed that he was not ready to comply with the arrangement hence the reason policemen have been visiting his residence to make him comply before the date.’’
THE NATION
