Precious Chikwendu, a former beauty queenand ex-wife of former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, has said herex-husband beat her up on several occasions even while she was pregnant.
She, therefore, demanded full custody of theirfour sons aged five and three.
Chikwendu made theallegations in an affidavit she deposed to in support of an originating motionbrought pursuant to Section 69 of the Child’s Rights Act, 2003.
The case is being presided over by Justice S.C. Oriji of the FCTHigh Court, Apo, in Abuja.
The ex-beauty queen said she met Fani-Kayode in 2014 at the peakof her career and they soon fell in love and began living together.
She noted that she had four children, including a son aged fiveand a set of triplets aged three.
She said, “From the early days of our relationship, therespondent (Fani-Kayode) has always maintained a lifestyle of utter disregardto my feelings. This was evident in the way and manner the respondent assaultedme while I was pregnant with our first son.
“The respondent (Fani-Kayode) kicked me several times on mystomach over a petty argument that ensued. It was my friend, Vanessa, who wasaround at the material time that intervened at the nick of time to saveme.
“I had to leave the respondent’s (Fani-Kayode’s) house a fewdays after this incident. The respondent (Fani-Kayode) repeated the same actwhen I was pregnant with triplets, this time it was my mother and sister,Faith, that intervened.”
Chikwendu said on one occasion, Fani-Kayode and a formerDivisional Police Officer of the Asokoro Police Station drugged her.
She said the ex-minister and her soon became companions andbegan living together.
She, however, said things soon turned sour as Fani-Kayode beganexhibiting signs of paranoia.
The ex-beauty pageant alleged that the former minister accusedher of infidelity and on several occasions locked her out of their home locatedon Aso Drive, Asokoro, Abuja.
She told the court, “Sometime in 2018, in one of my attempts toleave the house with the children, the respondent (Fani-Kayode) in the companyof the DPO of Asokoro Police Division, and her team of policemen handcuffed meand stripped me naked while someone from the crowd whom I initially mistook fora policeman forcefully injected me with a sedation.
“That I was then abducted and incarcerated at a hospital for aperiod of two weeks. I was separated from my six-month-old triplets anda-year-old son at the time.”
Chikwendu, who alleged that the ex-minister had denied heraccess to her children for several months, asked the court to compelFani-Kayode to give her a monthly payment of N3.5 million for the upkeep oftheir four sons.
According to Chikwendu, Fani-Kayode currently spends N1.8million on food, toiletries and others on the four children every month whileN575,000 is spent monthly on clothing.
She said Fani-Kayode had continued to deny her access to thechildren in order to compel her to return to the marriage.
The ex-beauty pageant alleged that in a bid to spite her,Fani-Kayode had been taking pictures of the children with different women andposting them on social media.
In a response filed by one Oluwafemi Popoola on behalf ofFani-Kayode, the ex-minister said he had not been properly served with thecourt processes and hence, he could not respond appropriately.
The affidavit Popoola deposed to read in part, “Except there isservice or proper service of the originating processes filed in this case onthe respondent/applicant, this honourable court will lack jurisdiction toconduct further proceedings.”
In the court documents obtained by SaharaReporters,Fani-Kayode’s ex-wife seeks an order of the court “granting custody of the fourchildren to the applicant but with reasonable right of access to the
respondent”.