The son of multi-billionaire businessman, Mike Adenuga, has been granted custody rights over his 16-month old daughter by an Igbosere Magistrate’s Court in Lagos.
Eniola Adenuga, in his supporting affidavit in support of his motion for custody, 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.
Eniola 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.
But his girlfriend with whom he had the child, Maggie Ogun, a pharmacist, has sought the court’s leave to appeal the order.
The Nation reports that 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.
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.
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.