“Maggie, through her lawyer, Mrs Marian Jones of the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA), applied to the magistrate, Chief Magistrate O. A. Ogunbowale, for leave to appeal the ruling, 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.
Shortly after an alleged amorous affair that produced a daughter, son of multi-billionaire businessman, Mike Adenuga, Eniola and his ex-girlfriend, Ogun Maggie, have headed to the court over whose custody the 16-month-old girl should be.
The ex-lovers appeared before an Igbosere Magistrate’s Court in Lagos state recently and the court granted custody rights to Eniola, but his girlfriend sought the court’s leave to appeal the order.
The applicant, Eniola, had filed a motion to secure the custody of the child. He told the court he started “an amorous affair” with Maggie in October, 2013.
“In 2014, she informed me that she was pregnant and I took full responsibility for their welfare.
“I 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, Adenuga stated, adding that he paid the bills worth 22,000 pounds, purchased a first class Lagos-London return ticket for her, and accommodated Maggie.
“She, however, returned to Lagos last January, three months after her delivery and denied me access to the child. I sent N200, 000 to Maggie monthly for their upkeep and was denied access 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 and her mother insisted that I would only see the child on the condition that I married Maggie.
“So, I was not allowed to see my child between last March and October,” the applicant, who works at Conoil Producing Limited added.
In his supporting affidavit, he said on one occasion, he was allowed access to the house and he observed that Maggie 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.
“I enrolled my daughter at a world-class crèche where I paid N600, 000 per term.
“I was only able to see my daughter when I organised a birthday party for her and when I took her and Maggie 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.
Adenuga, speaking further on why he wants custody of the child, 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.”
Meanwhile, the respondent in her counter-claim, said she never denied Adenuga access to his child.
According to her, from last May to October, she took her daughter to the applicant’s mother’s residence in Victoria Island every weekend and also took the daughter to the applicant’s father’s house on Banana Island at least thrice a week and sometimes slept over.
Maggie, a pharmacist, said when Adenuga’s mother demanded that she and the daughter spent two weeks monthly at her residence, her family refused because she was not married to Adenuga.
“I was trying to resolve the issue amicably when Adenuga, on October 13 last year, came to my home in company of a policeman demanding that his daughter be produced and in the process assaulted my mother and damaged my phone when I tried to record the scene,” Maggie said, stressing that she never kept their daughter in custody of a security man.
She said, “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.
“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. He does not have a definite schedule and comes home by 12.”
The Magistrate however dismissed Maggie’s objection that Adenuga cannot take adequate care of the child.
In her ruling, Ogunbowale said, “Consequently, the applicant (Adenuga) is hereby granted an overnight access to the subject (child) every fortnight from 8 a.m on Saturday to 12 noon on Sunday.
“The order takes effect from March 16 and would subsist until the case is determined,” the Magistrate ruled.
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