Smart DNA Sheds Light On Child Paternity Fraud In Nigeria
How Rising Cases Take Toll On Men, Ruin Marital Trust
Isn’t it sickening and heart-wrenching that married women are the new sport to the creeps among men, not a few husbands would readily admit. To the latter, a married woman should be off-limits to the ubiquitous philanderer, no matter the circumstance. Notwithstanding this unwritten rule of indulgence, young, dashing Nigerian hunks have developed a striking taste for married women of all divides.
This clearly discountenances the popular saw which avers that a mistress should be like a little country retreat near the town, not to dwell in constantly, but only for a night and away – and she must be evidently single. These days, the identity of the mistress is undergoing remarkable changes; the image of the mistress as a kept woman far from the abode of her beau is outdated and in its stead, a brash, daring breed of paramour has re-emerged.
Several young gym and fitness instructors are spiritedly vie for the love and attention of the next wild married cougar on the block; in the jostle, some simply settle for the foxy and neglected housewife next door.
This morbid taste for other men’s wives is nurtured and perpetuated across social grades and societal circuits. It is the reason why many celebrity marriages crash and burn before they fully evolve; it is also responsible for several broken marriages and homes in less privileged circuits.
While many husbands and victims of their exploits consider their choice of guilty pleasure creepy, the contemporary Nigerian adulterer sees nothing wrong in his exploits. Married women for your information are getting wiser and more daring than ever now. They are open to sexual escapades of any kind. Be it wild or modestly designed, having a relationship with a married woman is infinitely rewarding and more peaceful and mature than dating some modern, financial independent vixen.
Toyin Alebiosu, a fitness instructor, revealed that after being continually hit on and propositioned by rich, married women coming to his gym, he was forced to date two of his clients. “And contrary to popular opinion, I had the time of my life with those women. Married women are sweeter, they are more mature and they are better on bed. They are greater sex bombs than all these chewing gum girls loitering the streets. More importantly, they do not bother you for money and other unnecessary bills,” he said.
According to the frequent caller at a popular Lagos Fitness Centre, “My husband is a frequent traveler and it is due to the nature of his work. He is an oil worker. But whenever he is around, he hardly spends time with me. He thinks I do not know that he keeps a bevy of girlfriends at his beck and call. I am human too. I got tired of neglect and my vibrator,” said the mother of three. However, the rich men who are busy running after big deals are scared stiff even as you read. Some have decided to stop their wives not to go for any fitness class.
Interestingly, however, it was the lawyers of ancient Rome who came up with the modern definition of fatherhood: Mater semper certa est; pater est quem nuptiae demonstrant (rough translation: The mother is obvious; the father is the one she was married to when the child was born).
The Romans, however, didn’t have access to genetic testing. Likewise a lot of Nigerian fathers often due to the perceived exorbitant costs of running such tests. Consequently, both Roman and Nigerian fathers become susceptible to the pious frauds of paternity, as devised by their wives. Where the wives scorn infidelity, their husbands have nothing to fear.
But where the women keep multiple sex mates aside from their men, marital squabbles and intrigue bordering on paternity fraud tear their marriages apart.
Against the backdrop of isolated cases of paternity fraud published across the mainstream and new media, a new report has emerged that claims that more than 25% of the men tested for DNA paternity have found that they are not the biological fathers of their children.
The report, provided by Smart DNA, one of the most prominent DNA testing centres in Lagos, covers testing sessions conducted between July 1, 2022, and June 30, 2023, a whole year.
If the report is anything to go by, out of every four fathers, one of them is training a child that is not their own. In other words, one of them is falsely convinced of the paternity of their child(ren). Of course, the data that Smart DNA used for the analysis was collected from individuals residing in Lagos, Oyo, Ogun, and FCT, with the majority from Lagos.
The report has generated controversy across the country with many men, victims of paternity fraud in particular, pointing accusing fingers at their women, claiming that they are unreliable, after all, even within the sanctity of marriage and intimate relationships.
The implications are much more dismal and depressing than a rational individual wishes to consider. After all, every father could begin to look at their child(ren), evaluating the features of their face(s) as a way to verify resemblance and paternity.
Many men, afflicted with nagging suspicion about the true paternity of their wards, may have experienced further validation of their fears in the wake of the report. Even so, not all men may be able to accept and deal with the consequences of receiving negative test results concerning the paternity of their children. Many men actually live in dread of such results, ultimately because it would be devastating to the psyche.
As a man, if you eventually find out that the child is not yours, you will be forced to do what you dread and give up partial or full custody of the boy or girl, noted Biodun Otun, a banker.
According to him, losing custody of a child on whom you have showered much love and in whom you have reposed so much hope of bearing the continuity of your lineage could be excruciating on a man’s mental well-being.
“You will feel dejected and then angry. The anger grows and replicates in you until it becomes a storm, and it just keeps chipping away at your love for those children and their mother,” he said.
Advocates for these so-called duped dads say such men should be treated as victims of fraud and allowed to pursue litigation against their erring wives.
Paternity fraud occurs when a woman falsely claims that a man is the biological father of her child, leading him to believe he has fathered a child when, in fact, he has not.
This deception often stems from various motivations, including financial gain, social status or concealing infidelity. Paternity fraud not only shatters trust within relationships but also has profound effects on the lives of innocent children.
Keeping family secrets isn’t as easy as it used to be, as Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) paternity tests are unravelling a lot of buried family secrets. Just one DNA test could change everything for better or for worse.
Many children are experiencing paternity scandals by learning that their father is really not their biological father.
The perception that paternity fraud is high in Nigeria is not unfounded. Reports have been making the rounds that Nigeria has the second-highest rate of paternity fraud in the world after Jamaica.
Many men have been unknowingly raising children that are not theirs and to curb the trend, there have been calls for the introduction of mandatory DNA testing at birth
Probably the most common mode of paternity is by acknowledgement. Once a man admits he is the father of a child, the case is closed.
The recent report by the Smart DNA testing centre has been received by many men as a crucial reminder of the need for them to seek DNA testing to establish the true paternity of their wards, in order to guard against future victimhood by unfaithful partners.
The result of tests conducted on thousands of users at its facility between July 1, 2022, and June 30, 2023, showed that Lagos accounted for the highest percentage of tests, with 82.89 per cent of the total, followed by Oyo (3.29 per cent), Ogun (3.07 per cent), FCT (2.63 per cent), and Rivers (2.41 per cent).
This heavy concentration in Lagos, particularly, the Mainland (68.14 per cent) compared to the Island (31.86 per cent) is likely due to the location of Smart DNA offices around the purchasing power of the state residents, and the high population density of the state, the report revealed.
On the test type, the report disclosed that the majority of tests (89.10 per cent) were conducted for Peace of Mind, followed by Immigration (8.97 per cent), and Legal (0.64 per cent). This suggests that individuals primarily seek DNA testing to confirm biological relationships for personal reasons rather than legal or immigration purposes, the report averred.
Though paternity fraud is a complex issue in Nigeria, with limited official statistics available, however, a 2016 report published by the Nigerian Tribune stated that approximately 30 per cent of men who took DNA tests in Nigeria to determine paternity discovered they were not the biological fathers of their children. This shocking statistic highlights the widespread nature of this problem.
Also, a study conducted by the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR) found that 27 per cent of paternity tests conducted in Lagos State revealed cases of misattributed paternity. These findings indicate a distressing pattern of deceit affecting countless Nigerian families.
Men who find themselves to be victims of paternity fraud often have to deal with feelings of betrayal, anger, confusion and emasculation. Many of them who had invested emotionally, financially, and socially in the children they later discovered are not biologically related to them become shattered and apathetic to trusting any woman going forward.
But justice for a disillusioned dad can clash with the best interests of a child raised to think of him as a father. These cases get cast as the duped dad vs. the scheming wife and has become a major issue of contention in the changing legal landscape.
