The Customary Court of Appeal in Ado-Ekiti has upheld the judgement of the Ise Ekiti Customary Court in a children’s custody suit filed by one Aladesuyi Ajayi and Ifejola Ajayi.
The Ise Ekiti Customary Court, presided over by; President, Mrs. A.F. Anjorin, assessors, Mr. Gbenga Jayeoba and Mr. Michael Aregbesola, had on April 29, 2025, granted the custody of the four children of the union to the Respondent, Ijejola Ajayi, and awarded 40,000 naira monthly upkeep for the children, to be paid by the Appellant, Aladesuyi Ajayi.
Dissatisfied with the trial court’s verdict, the Appellant sought the intervention of the Customary Court of Appeal to set aside the judgement of the Ise Court.
Delivering his judgement in the appeal, President of the Customary Court of Appeal, Hon. Justice Monisola Oluwatoyin Abodunde, ruled in favour of the Respondent, saying he cannot tamper with the judgement of the lower court.
He ruled that; “I find no reason to tamper with the findings of the lower trial court. Issue 1 is resolved in favour of the Respondent. More importantly, cognizance has been taken of the fact that the Appellant was not denied access rights to the children this in my view is a fair assessment of the circumstances of the instant case given the fact that the parties were merely cohabiting for 18years. It is in the interest of justice for both biological parents to take care of the children jointly though they may no longer be cohabiting under the same roof and I so hold.”
Ruling on the second issues, Justice Abodunde ruled that: “40,000 naira monthly maintenance fee shall be paid to the Chief Registrar of the Customary Court of Appeal Court from where the Respondent may collect same to ensure that the Respondent enjoys the fruits of the judgement without been overwhelmed by patriarchal bottlenecks that can overtake the instant award of court and to ensure that her children do not end up losing the fruits of the judgment which can lead to further hardship which will not be in the best interest of the children of the cohabitation by association.”
His Lordship then ruled that there was no merit in the appeal, thereby dismissing the case of the Appellant.
In their supportive judgements, other members of the appeal panel; Hon. Justices Rotimi Adegboye and Lawrence Ojo, concurred that there was no merit in the appeal and affirmed the trial court’s ruling.
