Tears as 13-yr-old boy fails to identify father who wants custody

Emotions ran high on Wednesday at the Abeokuta Customary Grade II Court, Ake, when a 13-year-old boy, Segun Adeoye, failed to identify his father, who was demanding his custody.

The teenager shocked the court when he declared that he didn’t know his father, who stood only a few inches away from him in the dock.

Mr S.A. Adeoye, in his 60s, had instituted a suit seeking custody of the 13-year-old who has been living with his mother, Mrs Motunrayo Adeoye, since the latter and Adeoye separated 10 years ago.

Adeoye accused Motunrayo of threat to his life, frequent fighting and causing him public embarrassment, and prayed for the custody of Segun for “fatherly care.”

In his oral submission, Adeoye, who was accompanied to the court by another woman he identified as his third wife, accused Motunrayo of engaging in prostitution and wanted the relationship to come to a formal end.

However, in her defence, Motunrayo said her husband became troublesome when she got pregnant for him. She said, “Since then, he has always been avoiding me. There is nothing my parents or I didn’t do to please him, to no avail. During the child christening ceremony, he was not around. As a result, we could not give the boy a Muslim name.

“He completely deserted us. I accepted my fate, so I am shocked when I received an invitation to come to court (broke down in tears),” she said.

When the court president, Chief Olalekan Akande, asked that the son, Segun, be brought out, the filled court was palpable with emotions as the striking resemblance between father and son was very clear.

When Chief Akande asked the boy his name, he responded, “Segun Adeoye”. When asked whether he knew his father, he said no. And his reply to whether he loved the old man was an immediate, “I don’t”.

Akande enlightened both parties that the custody of a child would be done solely on merit, according to government laid-down rules, and adjourned the suit to June 18, 2018. He also directed that the boy be brought to court on the day.