I was involved in a DNA case recently. A young lady I know got pregnant She was an undergraduate attending a private University in Nigeria. Her father was a very well to do man who is more than able to care for her and her baby She told her mother she had gotten pregnant Her father insisted she must tell him who the father of the child was. She mentioned a particular young man. The guy was the son of the richest man in her school She had slept with him several times and she was convinced he was the one. Her parents approached the young man’s family. They called their son and asked him to tell them the truth. He said he had slept with her several times but he was not the only one sleeping with her. He said they were a clique of fourteen in their group. They club together, party together and move in a convoy. Every male in the group sleeps with every female in the group. So sleeping with her several times was not his exclusive right. It was a community sex thing and everybody had slept with everybody several times too. He wondered why she conveniently singled him out as the father of her baby.

He said he already had someone he was dating and hoping to get married to. When her parents asked her if what the young man said was true, she just cried. I saw her crying almost ten hours everyday from morning till night. She refused to speak eloquently so that we can sort out the issue. Ask her a direct question, she will respond with tears. Eventually, the young man’s parents decided that the best thing to do is wait until she delivers the baby and then do a DNA test to ascertain who the father of the baby was. The young man was helpful to the investigation. He mentioned the names of all the other guys in their community so that samples can be collected from them for DNA tests too.

The baby was born at one of the most prestigious hospitals in Lagos. A DNA test was conducted immediately. The young man was not the father of the baby. The other samples taken were also tested and none of them turned out to be the father of the baby. It turned out she was sleeping with someone else outside of their community and only she knows the person. She refused to disclose the person to anyone, including her mother. Anytime anybody asks her any question about it, she just wept. So we had to leave it. She is back in school at the moment The baby is with her parents Her father gave the child his surname and even though he was disappointed, he said he hoped she had learnt her lessons and would make better choices going forward.

PS: I decided to write this because of another DNA test case I saw making the rounds in the media It is advisable that the lady involved in the story tell her daughter the truth. She is harming the young lady by insisting someone who has been disproved by DNA test is her father. She does not owe the duty of truth to anyone else, but she owes it to that young lady You cannot let a girl believe a lie from when she was born and despite conducting five DNA tests, insist on the lies when there is clear cut evidence of what the truth is. When you are caught in a lie, the best thing to do is not to double down but to make u-turn.

-GSW-