Lagos State Television (LTV) presenter has been ordered by a Lagos State High Court, Igbosere, to pay for the upkeep of his 15-year-old daughter, Matilda Oluwapamilerinayo Martins, who was born outside wedlock.
Jare Martins was ordered to also pay the sum of N3.1 million to the mother of the child, Vanguard reports. As stated by Vanguard, Justice Morenikeji Obadina ordered Martins, the Aare Mayegun of Ogere, Ogun State, to refund to Matilda’s mother, Miss Adenike Adeniyi, the sum of N615,100 spent on her education from birth. The judge made a lump sum award of N2.5million to Adeniyi to be paid by Martin “forthwith” following the “emotional stress” caused her by the presenter’s “refusal to take up parental responsibility for the child.” She ordered the TV host to take responsibility for Matilda’s education till university level and pay her mother N150,000 every month for their daughter’s upkeep, “until she graduates from University and starts working.” The judge gave the verdict on Thursday while delivering judgment in a suit filed by Adeniyi on November 22, 2016. The applicant averred in her claim that she had a relationship with Martins in 2001, following which she conceived and gave birth to their daughter. She testified that her pregnancy was the result of Martin’s promise to marry her if she proved her fertility. Adenike told Justice Obadina that five months after she conceived, Martin, who initially accepted paternity, demanded that she abort the pregnancy but she refused. As stated by her, this annoyed the respondent and he assaulted her. “When I gave birth to the child, my family went to inform the respondent’s family, but his family vowed not to have anything to do with the child. I had to sell all my personal belongings and obtained loans to take care of the child till date,” she also stated. The judge observed that during an interaction with the child on May 22, 2017, she told the court that she was 15 and met her dad only once in her life, when she was 12 years old.
