Lawyer Threatens To Petition EFCC, Police To Probe Any Further Complaint of Paternity Fraud

Human rights lawyer Ikechukwu Obasi has called for paternity fraud to be treated as a crime, saying he will personally petition law enforcement in future cases.

Writing on his official X handle, Obasi stated: “Paternity fraud should be a crime. Fraud generally is a crime. Any next time I receive any such complaint from an innocent and aggrieved man I’ll personally petition the police or EFCC to probe it.”

The rights lawyer further compared it to domestic violence saying: “Same way domestic violence on wives is criminal, that’s how paternity fraud is.”

Obasi did not cite a specific incident of paternity in the X post. He has recently been vocal on men’s rights issues and is currently litigating a ₦200m child-rights suit against actress Tonto Dikeh.

Nigeria’s criminal code does not presently list “paternity fraud” as a distinct offence, though fraud is generally an offence and related charges like obtaining by false pretence can apply depending on facts.