The family of Prophetess Lilian Chibuzor Abua has condemned the report in some section of Nigerian media for misinterpreting the judgement delivered by the Ondo Customary Court recently on the case between Abua and her ex-lover, Ayodeji Obayan.
The family faulted the media for not reporting properly the content of the judgement delivered by Magistrate Stephen Rotiba on 10 October 2023.
In a press statement made available to Independent News Express on Thursday in Lagos, Pastor Emmanuel Azubuike on behalf of the family of Prophetess Abua, the family described the media report as malicious.
The statement reads: “I am constrained to react to some newspaper publication, especially that of Tribune, Vanguard and the Nation over the judgement delivered by an Ondo Customary Court on the 10th of October by Magistrate Stephen Rotiba, on the case between my daughter and sister Mrs. Lilian Chibuzor Abua and his ex-lover, Prophet Ayodeji Obayan.
“Ordinary, the family would not have reacted to the deliberate, malicious and one-sided news story being published and broadcast, but in order to put the records straight, we make bold to say that these sponsored articles are in bad taste and does not in any way reflect the true position of the 35 minutes judgment delivered by the learned judge on Tuesday, 10th of October 2023.
“To put the record straight; I was at the court as always, and I heard the entire ruling of the judge. There was never a moment that the judge gave custody of any of the four children to Prophet Obayan as alleged by Tribune newspaper’s report nor paternity to him too because he (the judge) clearly stated that in his earlier ruling on the custody of the children the 26th day of April, 2023, the custody to the mother still stands.
“His early ruling, “On the issue of custody of the children of the ‘marriage’. I also agree with counsel to the respondent that this court does not have the vires and the requisite jurisdiction to determine same save for the last child of the ‘marriage’ which is still 16 years old. A conscientious consideration of the principles embedded in Okwueze vs Okwueze Supra is to the effect that a child of 16 years old is clothed with the will to determine or elect his or her action, in-action, commission or omission. It is consequent on the foregoing stated reason that I also resolve this issue in favour of the respondent.”
“I was surprised to see that some of the newspapers tried to add some tribal twist to the whole story without even seeing a copy of the judgement or being present at the court when the case was going on or when the judgement was read on the 10th of October. Where they got their malicious story remains a mystery to me and our family.
“While we call for a more responsible journalism where all the principles of truth and justice should be meted to all parties, we want to remind you that there are facts the public needs to know before jumping to a conclusion on the sponsored stories currently in the media space.
1: Chibuzor Lilian who hails from Abia state (the eastern part of Nigeria) never had a bride price or dowry paid by Mr Ayodeji Obayan who hails from Ondo state. There was no legal binding on them as a couple. They started cohabiting around year 2000.
2. The relationship between Ayodeji and Chibuzor Lilian was a toxic affair whilst they were cohabiting. Ayodeji was a bully and an abuser. He abused Chibuzor Lilian both physically, mentally, emotionally, verbally and otherwise until she decided to run for her dear life with her four children when the situation became unbearable in the year 2017.
3: In the Igbo culture, if a woman gets pregnant out of wedlock and gives birth without the dowry being collected by her family, the child bears the woman’s maiden name. There is no way the father of the child can lay claim to the child/children if he hasn’t paid their mother’s dowry.
4: Chibuzor Lilian being a submissive woman who fears God and follows His leadings has always covered up for Ayodeji’s inadequacies and short comings with love and humility, but Ayodeji keeps taking advantage of her submissiveness.
5. She was the pillar of the relationship financially but she never Lord it over the man still, his greed and selfishness accompanied with over bloated ego won’t let him see things clearly.
“Tell me which reasonable man dumps his partner? Ayodeji would stoop so low as collecting N500, 000 from Chibuzor Lilian for a child’s school fees that is less than N150, 000. Tell me if that is not fraud.”
