Davido: Ripples over child custody

Nigerian Afrobeat megastar, David Adeleke, popularly known as Davido, has addressed the ongoing child custody dispute with Sophia Momodu, mother of his first daughter, saying, all he asked for is joint parenting.

The matter is currently a subject of litigation before the court.

Davido also expressed displeasure over Sophia’s usual reference to the death of his son, who died in 2022.

Davido, in an Instagram story wrote: “You are constantly bringing up the death of my child at any point you can to just remind us of this tragedy that haunts us every day of our lives.

“Imade will grow up to see I fought for her… as for now you can have her P.S she won’t be a child forever… enjoy Imade Aurora Adeleke ! Your father loves you!

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“All I ask for is JOINT CUSTODY !! And nothing else! But cus it’s ‘Davido’ y’all wanna act like y’all can’t read. Smh … I’m off this! Y’all be blessed and I pray this never happens to you.”

Meanwhile, Momodu, told a Lagos State High Court sitting in Sabo, Yaba, not to grant the child’s custody to the musician.

She told the court on Friday that the applicant was not fit to be granted custody of their daughter because he is always not available and does not possess the ability to dutifully care for her.

She stated this in a counter-affidavit she filed in opposition to Davido’s suit seeking custody.

In a related development, Dele Momodu, Publisher of Ovation International and uncle to Sophia Momodu, mother of Davido’s first daughter, has advised the duo to desist from making harmful and irreversible statements over the custody of their child on social media.

Momodu took to his Instagram page on Saturday to share his opinion on the joint custody dispute between Davido and Sophia.

“The vitriolic rhetoric in the media should be avoided by all means as this only further inflames what is already a traumatic experience for all parties involved, especially the child in question.”

He urged both parties to prioritise their daughter’s well-being and compromise on custody and financial responsibilities.

“Last night, I received a distressing message from Mr David Adeleke (aka Davido). He was obviously devastated by the counter-affidavit submitted in court, earlier in the day, in response to his affidavit seeking a joint custody of his daughter with my niece, Sophia Momodu.

“I had seen David’s affidavit about two weeks ago and I was very surprised as David and I had spoken on a video call days earlier, with him and Pastor Tobi Adegboyega, and he never told me he had any custody issues with my niece.

“So you can imagine my confusion to find out via social media and subsequently confirmed by my niece that he had filed an action in court seeking joint custody of their daughter.

“During the referenced video call, we were all very excited about his forthcoming wedding ceremony, an event our family congratulated him about. Prior to this, David had told me he eventually spoke to their daughter, after a long lull of about two years.

“He was very happy and excited. So I thought everything was settled and he and Sophia would now have the opportunity of taking maximum care of their daughter. I had offered special thanks to David’s Dad, Dr Adedeji Adeleke, for his kindness and support for our daughter during the period of David’s absence.

“I had also taken Sophia and their daughter to my very dear friend, Governor Ademola Adeleke, seeking his intervention. To the best of my knowledge, there was never a problem of joint custody.

“The issues were: non-payment of school fees for several sessions; non-payment of accommodation and salaries of a nanny. There was no car dedicated to David’s daughter. And so on. Mercifully, I mentioned all to Dr Adedeji Adeleke and he responded positively, like a true grandfather.

“On the issue of non-payment of school fees, David’s Dad cleared everything and also set up payments of future bills. He gave his granddaughter a car to take her to school. The remaining issue was on accommodation.

“David’s Dad verbally offered, in his discussions with me, one of their family apartments in Oniru Estate, Victoria Island, however, maybe due to miscommunication, David’s lawyers had communicated otherwise. After Sophia clarified from me, she politely declined the offer, and her reason was tenable in my view, because, since she’s not married to David, she can’t be comfortable living in a place swarming with David’s family members.

“She and her daughter had been living in Ikoyi before David and Sophia started their latest quarrels. Sophia’s request was that David should pay half of the accommodation while she would pay the other half. David said he could only contribute N5million annually.

“My opinion is that the absence of camaraderie between David and Sophia has caused this debacle. I have cautioned repeatedly that their daughter must not be allowed to suffer or be treated like a second class child. David’s global status makes this imperative.”