Legal practitioner and entrepreneur, Ms. Adaobi Alagwu, has said she was tricked into a purported customary marriage by Dr. Tunde Ayeni, based on what she described as lies about his (Ayeni‘s) marital status.
She, therefore, characterised the former Skye Bank Chairman’s recent interview with THISDAY as false, malicious, and defamatory and a distraction from the central issues.
Reacting to the publication titled: “I Regret Ever Meeting Adaobi Alagwu”, Alagwu, through her lawyers, reiterated that she was tricked into a purported customary marriage by Ayeni, stating that the relationship began on the understanding that he (Ayeni) was married under customary law and therefore could legally take another wife.
Besides, in the letter by her legal representatives, Indemnity Partners, led by Chief B. C. Igwilo (SAN), Alagwu stated that Ayeni personally arranged and paid for a Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) paternity test abroad, which was confirmed with 99.9999 per cent certainty that he is the biological father of her child.
“Without doubt, our client and Dr. TundeAyeni went out as consenting adults premised primarily on the misrepresentation by Dr. Ayeni of his true marital status. He had represented to our client that he was married under customary law and therefore could also marry her without legal fetters,” part of the letter stated.
However, the letter noted thatAyeni later turned hostile towards Alagwu and her family, launching a campaign of public antagonism without provocation.
“Our unsuspecting client was therefore later tricked into a purported customary marriage with Dr. Ayeni. This relationship begot Baby Ayeni who was named by Dr. Ayeni with all her given names. Dr. Ayeni is also recorded as the baby’s father in her international passport and official birth records.
“In the course of time, Dr. Ayeni personally sponsored a DNA paternity test abroad and the report was 99.9999 per cent certainty. Further, Dr. Ayeni was later to develop intense public antagonism towards our client and her family, often spewing verbiage, without reaction in kind by our client,” the letter to THISDAY said.
Alagwu, in the letter by her lawyers, maintained that the allegation that she tampered with the DNA process by hacking into Ayeni’s wife’s email was absurd.
“The interview was clearly designed to ridicule, defame and destroy the reputation of our client,” the letter stated.
As the saga keeps flooding the media space, several glaring questions hang unanswered; particularly around Adaobi’s claims of being “misled” into a supposedly secret marriage with businessman Tunde Ayeni.
Looking through some of the cold, inconvenient facts; It may be time for both to step out from behind their run-of-show narratives and face questions of integrity, taste, and accountability.
For Adaobi; How “misled” was she? Adaobi conveniently omitted that Ayeni is twice her age, a fact she knew from the get go and was excited about. Would a truly intellectual, even legal-savvy person, not insist on seeing a divorce certificate showing Ayeni was no longer married before agreeing to be “misled” into their secret wedding?
Those familiar with their relationship claim it was a known secret she was always told to keep off his house because of his wife; so was she truly “misled,” or she’s just the lead actress in a carefully controlled performance?
And for Ayeni; How does a man ageless in means yet so poor in taste think it’s okay to bankroll multiple side-flings? And then claim he regrets meeting Adaobi, when it was he who chased her, lavished her and her mother with funds, asked for forgiveness, and kept showering them with gifts knowing fully well he’s married to Dr Biola Ayeni?
