The Lagos State Government on Monday says it has fired a customary court judge, Mr Ishola Razaki Adeyemi, who allegedly dissolved a marriage between a couple and impregnated the wife of the complainant, Olayemi Ayeni.
Ayeni in a now-viral video was seen recounting his tumultuous ordeal in the hands of Adeyemi, whom he claimed made his life a living hell.
According to him, he had a major dispute with his wife and mother of his kids, Doyin Rukayat Okunnubi, in whose business he had invested N5 million.
The romance became sour when her business flourished and his wife allegedly became rebellious.
The man further accused his wife of infidelity which prompted him to sue to seek a resolution to the crisis.
He said the judge who presided over the marital fracas engineered their divorce and subsequently impregnated his wife.
“I had an issue with my wife, she moved out of the house, she rented an apartment very close to my house. I put five million naira into her business to establish a school, Greatest Kiddies Foundation. So, the success of the business caused a problem in the family, I could not control her again,” he had said in the video.
“So after 10 months, I took her to court, thinking that I’d able to resolve this matter through Alternative Dispute Resolution. The judge, Dr Ishola Azakiq Adeyeni, hurriedly dissolved my marriage and got that woman impregnated three months after the dissolution of the marriage.
“The woman, she’s now carrying nine months pregnancy for that man. What really pained me is that in the ruling, this man denied me access to my children. That I can only see the children at the school premises once a week. The same children now are under his custody; he took over the business I established for that woman. He denied me access from having access to my children, he impregnated the woman now and he still wants to send me to jail.”
Reacting in a statement issued on Monday, the Lagos State Government said the case was investigated by the State Judicial Service Commission.
According to the Executive Secretary, Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency, Titilola Vivour Adeniyi, the findings of the investigation subsequently led to the termination of the appointment of the judge.
She added that the incident happened between 2014 and 2015.
“The attention of the State Government has been drawn to a viral video circulating the social media space wherein one Mr. Olayemi Ayeni (the Complainant) alleged that a former Customary Court Member, Mr. Ishola Razaki Adeyemi, abused his office by exhibiting unprofessional conduct in a customary court case involving the Complainant and his wife and proceeded to snatch his wife and children from him.
“The matter which occurred between 2014/2015 was investigated by the Lagos State Judicial Service Commission. The findings of the investigation subsequently led to the termination of the appointment of the Member of the Customary Court.
“It was discovered that the viral video was posted by ‘Ogbonge friends’ sometime in 2016.
“Members of the public are informed that the Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency has attempted to reach out to Ogbongefriends on their various social media accounts, but unfortunately their accounts have not been active since 2018. All efforts to reach out to the complainant have been to no avail.
“We, therefore, use this medium to encourage anyone with useful information about the complainant to please reach out via our social media handles- @dsvrt on Twitter or @dsva on Instagram or on 0813-796-0048,” the statement read.