Saturday, July 06, 2024 - Journalist and uncle to Sophia Momodu, Dele Momodu, has weighed in on the child custody battle between Sophia and Singer Davido.
The former lovers are currently in court over the custody of
their nine-year-old daughter, Imade.
Davido recently filed a suit against Sophia demanding that they
share joint custody of their daughter, a decision Sophia is against and has
filed a counter-suit.
Momodu in a post on his official handles on Saturday July 6,
disclosed that the court has referred between Davido and Sophia for possible
settlement by the alternative dispute resolution, ADR.
Sharing his opinion over the ongoing saga, Dele advised Davido and
Sophia to have a proper structure put in place for their daughter’s welfare and
take the issue off social media.
His statement reads
‘’Last night, I received a distressing message from Mr David
Adeleke (aka Davido). He was obviously devastated by the counter-affidavit
submitted in court, earlier in the day, in response to his affidavit seeking a
joint custody of his daughter with my niece Sophia Momodu.
I had seen David's
affidavit about two weeks ago and I was very surprised as David and I had
spoken on a video call days earlier, with him and Pastor Tobi Adegboyega, and
he never told me he had any custody issues with my niece. So you can
imagine my confusion to find out via social media and subsequently confirmed by
my niece that he had filed an action in court seeking joint custody of their
daughter.
During the referenced video call, we were all very excited
about his forthcoming wedding ceremony, an event our family congratulated him
about. Prior to this, David had told me he eventually spoke to their daughter,
after a long lull of about two years.
He was very happy and excited. So I thought everything was
settled and he and Sophia would now have the opportunity of taking maximum care
of their daughter. I had offered special thanks to David's Dad, Dr Adedeji
Adeleke, for his kindness and support for our daughter during the period of
David's absence.
I had also taken Sophia and their daughter to my very dear
friend, Governor Ademola Adeleke, seeking his intervention. To the best of my
knowledge, there was never a problem of joint custody. The issues were:
non-payment of school fees for several sessions; non-payment of accommodation
and salaries of a nanny. There was no car dedicated to David's daughter. And so
on. Mercifully, I mentioned all to Dr Adedeji Adeleke and he responded
positively, like a true grandfather. On the issue of non-payment of school
fees, David's Dad cleared everything and also set up payments of future bills.
He gave his grand daughter a car to take her to school. The remaining issue was
on accommodation.
David's Dad verbally offered, in his discussions with me,
one of their family apartments in Oniru Estate, Victoria Island, however, maybe
due to miscommunication, David’s lawyers had communicated otherwise. After
Sophia clarified from me, she politely declined the offer, and her reason was
tenable in my view, because, since she's not married to David, she can't be
comfortable living in a place swarming with David's family members.
She and her daughter had been living in Ikoyi before David
and Sophia started their latest quarrels. Sophia's request was that David
should pay half of the accommodation while she would pay the other half. David
said he could only contribute N5million annually.
My opinion is that the absence of camaraderie between David
and Sophia has caused this debacle. I have cautioned repeatedly that their
daughter must not be allowed to suffer or be treated like a second class child.
David's global status makes this imperative.
Sophia allowed David access to their daughter provided she
has her nanny around 24/7. The 9-year old herself made this request and I
believe this should be favorably considered and accepted. My grand niece had
been released to go out with her cousins on several occasions.
The Governor’s daughter, Nike, was at Sophia’s house with
the Governor’s grandson last Christmas Day, despite the fact that there wasn’t
ample notice & she still granted access.
Two months ago, the Governor’s son, Sina Rambo, requested a
play date between the kids & Sophia rented out a children’s place in
Victoria Island for them to spend hours together. The only time she
couldn't join her father’s family was when her grandfather requested to go on
vacation with her for three weeks last year, as the notice was too short, and
Sophia had already paid for their own trips, due to lack of communication
between the parents.
The court yesterday referred the case for possible
settlement by the alternative dispute resolution (ADR) section of the court
during Settlement Week and I strongly advise that David (and Sophia) engage
truly with the process as opposed to making harmful and irreversible statements
on social media which not only violate the law but the interest of their child.
I have in the past 9 years tried my best to ensure amicable resolution of
disputes and encouraged both parents to have a proper structure put in place
for the welfare of their daughter. It is important to note that Sophia
did not instigate this court action and is only seeking to protect their
daughter and ensure that there is a structured, safe and sustainable manner in
which father and child can engage with each other.
The vitriolic rhetoric in the media should be avoided by all
means as this only further inflames what is already a traumatic experience for
all parties involved, especially the child in question.''
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