“For 17 years, my son’s mother denied her son of his father. She told him that his father had p@ssed away. That was how she took possession of my son and started taking care of him.
My son knew I was his father and would sneak to my place. When he clocked 10 years, she called the anti-k!dn@pping squad on me, claiming I k!dn@pp£d our son. So I told them to take him, because only the mother knows the father of her child.
When he clocked 15 years, he came back to my place again, and I took him to the station. I told them, ‘This boy came to my place and said I am his father, but his mother said I am not. That is why I brought him here.’
When he clocked 17 years, he told his mother that he wanted to go and stay with his father. That was how we took ourselves to court.
All the evidence proved that I was his father. They granted me custody after 17 years and told me to change his surname to mine. The court didn’t award her 1 kobo because the facts on ground showed that she didn’t give me access to the child, not that I didn’t want to take care of him.
She took him to the most expensive school I couldn’t afford just because she didn't want me to gain access to my son. She even said I wasn’t his father. The court had to send us to a DNA lab for a paternity test.
Now that the court has confirmed that I am the father, and the boy should be living with me, in her court documents, she said I should at least compensate her with ₦5 million for taking care of him for years.
They made her understand that they don’t pay such money.
So, single mothers, if you like, keep depriving your child of his father. Don’t worry, when the time comes, the child will come back to the father, and no one will compensate you...”
- Man recounts how he regained custody of his child after 17 years, claiming the boy's mother told her son he was de@d throughout his childhood.
