Paternity DNA testing: Nigeria case

Paternity DNA testing is reliable and has been used over and over to solve countless paternity disputes. Paternity tests rely on scientific evidence that is, in the vast majority of cases, incontrovertible. Nwachukwu Ikechukwu is a middle aged Nigerian man who has had an affair with a 15 year-old girl. The girl has born a child which she claims is Ikechukwu’s; however, the man denies that the child is his, although he acknowledges having an affair with the girl and explains his unconventional sexual rapports with her.

The court case was recently at its peak, with the young girl sitting in court, clutching the child and staring at the alleged father of her baby. Sitting in the defendant box, Ikechukwu described his affair with the girl saying that, in 2009, he did make love with her but did not indulge in coition. The young mother’s lawyer, Esther Uzoma, asked him to elaborate on this and explain how he made love without penetrating the girl. Ikechukwu described how he simply made love with his hands and only touched the girl’s chest and tummy. He described that he did experience an erection but his lawyer, Uwem U. Umoanwan, interjected claiming that his client was illiterate and although he could articulate the word he had no idea what it was.

The affair is precisely described as having taken place in July 2009 and the baby was born in February 2010. The plaintiff directly asked Ikechukwu to himself calculate the months between the affair and the birth of the child. The period is 8 months and on this basis, Ikechukwu claims that he cannot be the biological father of the child. Moreover, the 15 year old girl only noticed 6 months prior to the birth that she was pregnant, which in Ikechukwu eyes narrowed the pregnancy-to-birth margin to just over 6 months- this he claimed, made it impossible that he was the father.

The Barrister asked Ikechukwu if he was willing to take a DNA paternity test which would easily prove or disprove the issue of paternity. The defense objected to the paternity test claiming that the Plaintiff had never put forward a request for any paternity tests. Whether the paternity DNA test will go ahead or not has not yet been decided by the court; however, without it, it is difficult to determine what will happen. Will the girl have to raise a child without the biological father taking responsibility? From a medical perspective the girl may have experienced bleeding in the early stages of her pregnancy which may have led her to think she was not pregnant. However, it is possible for women to bleed during pregnancy for a range of reasons, including what is referred to as decidual bleeding or hormonal changes when the period would have normally occurred. However, such bleeding is nothing to do with menstruation.

Paternity DNA testing will secure the future of the child and the mother. It can become a legal tool that will ultimately make the father take on his parental responsibilities.