Paternity fraud should be made a criminal offense in Nigeria

The level of paternity fraud in Nigeria is alarming. It has gotten to the point where lawmakers should make law(s) criminalizing paternity fraud.

According to a report, Nigeria ranks number one in Africa and second in the world as the country with the highest rate of paternity fraud. It was also reported  that 30% of Nigerian fathers aren’t really the biological father to their purported children i.e. 3 out of 10 fathers have the wrong kids as their biological children. 

Some of us recently read the story of the popular Calabar based OAP that goes by the name Father Kane who just discovered after a DNA test that his two children for twenty years were never his biological children. Stories like this are disheartening, heart breaking and it can only make you doubt the honesty of some ladies.

His Facebook public post read; 

“This is to inform the general public that I, Kanedrick Kingsley Agwu, popularly known as Fada Kane is not the biological father of Anthonia Duke and Paul Duke as alleged by one Miss MarryAnn Efa Duke,” he wrote.

Attached here are the copies of DNA and court affidavit to further ascertain my claims. MaryAnn Efa and her family are free to contest the DNA results through the court where I too can legally file for damages for such allegations.

Last year also, the story of Nedu Waziobia, a popular entertainer also trended, his first kid was not his biological child as the ex wife claimed after he carried out a DNA test. These are some of the numerous cases that made it to the news. 

When you force a kid on a man that he is not the biological father to, you are also doing the kids a grave harm because you are building their lives on a lie and depriving them the chance of knowing their biological father. These can damage the kid’s future.

The only way to reduce the issue of paternity fraud in Nigeria is to criminalize it and those that engage in the act should be properly tried and prosecuted and made to face harsh punishments.

The issue of paternity fraud is currently in the realm of morality but morality police cannot  tackle the menace, hence the need for legal forces to come to work.