David Adeleke, the 23-year-old pop artiste popularly known as Davido, has rebuffed claims by his estranged lover, Sophia Momodu on the circumstances surrounding the removal of their daughter, Imade, from Sophia’s custody.
In a lengthy narrative issued last night, Adeleke alleged that Sophia had been in weekly contact with Imade up till last week and claimed that hospital authorities had sought to transfer the baby to officials of the Lagos State Children Welfare Authority on account of alleged drug use by Sophia.
Adeleke in his narrative said the hospital authorities recanted only after Sophia agreed to surrender the baby for care with him, saying his estranged lover had kept to the agreement until she recanted last week as she insisted on going along with the Adeleke family for the treatment and family vacation in Dubai.
Adeleke in the narrative poured invectives on the respected veteran journalist, Dele Momodu, whom he accused of not taking care of his niece, Sophia, alleging that Mr. Momodu and his wife entered the scene as busybodies who he claimed did not bother about the welfare of their niece until she had a baby for him.
Vowing that he was manipulated by Sophia and that he would never marry her, he accused his estranged live-in lover of debauchery, saying that he was a well brought up man who would not condone such attributes of a woman as a wife.
Efforts to get Mr. Momodu’s reaction to the development were unfruitful as he did not respond to SMS and phone calls at press time.
He said: “In May, the same month Imade was born, Sophia settled in her fancy apartment for which I paid a hefty bill for a 2 year lease. Her baby was healthy. And she seemed happy. I would take care of all the financial needs of Imade and still pay Sophia a living allowance of N300,000 plus utility bills.
“Within a matter of weeks, Sophia missing and lusting for the streets of Lagos, especially the glitzy night life. She often left Imade home for clubbing, binge drinking and a life of debauchery and deviant living. She would sleep all day and party all night. When awake, she was addicted to the telephone and cannabis. She paid the baby no attention at all and seems to despise motherhood and parenting.
Blood polluted to the maximum level with cannabis
Imade was in her custody for two straight months, unchallenged and uninterrupted, until the baby took badly and severely ill in July. Imade cried, ceaselessly, for 48 hours. She was rushed to the hospital where her condition confounded medical experts. Several tests were conducted on her and later on the mother. Medical reports, herein attached, proved that Sophia’s blood was polluted to the maximum level with cannabis and she had by the process of breast feeding infected her child with complicated medical conditions associated with the use of alcohol and especially cannabis.
“The trouble spot for Imade was her lungs. She had difficulty breathing largely because of the contaminated breast milk and the severity of the “Second Smoke” of marijuana inhaled by the poor child.
“The medical experts at the hospital were enraged by the callous treatment of Imade by her own mother and declared her unfit for the caring and the nursing of a delicate baby. The team determined that they would hand over the baby to the Children’s Welfare Authority of Lagos State Government. My family started to plead with the hospital management. For the first time, Sophia too was sober, sorry and contrite. We pleaded that the baby would be kept from the mother once she was returned to us, and that we would take over responsibilities for Imade’s welfare.
“Voluntarily, Sophia, in the attempt to avoid the handing over of the baby to the children welfare authority, agreed to a compromise position that she would transfer Imade to the Adeleke family until the cannabis in the systems of both mum and daughter was completely out and comprehensively cleaned out.
“The medical expert also indicated that the full damage to Imade’s person could not be ascertained right away and that her mental state now or in the future could not be determined nor predicted, until perhaps when she would have attained adulthood. This was why and how Imade was transferred to the custody of the Adeleke family.
Imade flown to hospital in Dubai
“Meanwhile, Imade was increasingly worse off in wellness and she had to be flown to the American hospital in Dubai. I wrote a letter of release authorizing my sister to travel to Dubai with Imade. The hospital saved Imade who was returned to Nigeria with a medical equipment that had to be used daily to enable Imade to gain restful sleep and balanced respiratory rhythm. The photograph of this equipment is hereby attached.
“If Imade had not gone to Dubai, it is fair to say that she may not be alive today. Still, some people prevented her from keeping a follow-up appointment at the American Hospital in Dubai. For the silliest possible reason. My family would not pay for Sophia’s flight ticket and thus Imade would be disallowed from traveling for the vital purpose of medical conditions that lend oxygen to her life.”
“The claim has been made that the aborted trip to Dubia was to take Imade to America. This is not true. Imade’s Nigerian passport is right now with the Immigration Office with no American Visa embossed on it and Imade, though qualified to possess an American Passport because her dad is an American citizen, still does not possess an American passport. True, her passport is being processed but the truancy of her mother has caused a major delay. I therefore ask, how will Imade have entered America without a visa on her Nigerian passport?
“The only reason why some of us are dancing naked in the market place today, is because Sophia’s request to go to Dubai on my ticket was declined. She is demanding for her new car and a raise of her allowance to one million naira per month. The sole reason why she’s demanding for the custody of Imade is to justify the necessity for this delusional one million naira. A domestic matter that could have been quietly and sensibly settled has been tossed to the public domain with the brutal consequences to the most innocent actor in this drama, Imade.
“From December 23-28, Sophia lived at my father’s Lekki residence in peace, except for the first one hour when a medication was misapplied by her and Imade speedily vomited for a fearfully long time. Sophia did not know how to even bathe her own baby. She brought a friend to stay with her in a 3-bedroom flat with a resident professional nurse and nanny. Overall, her stay was joyful and in alignment with the thrills of the Christmas holiday season.
“On December 29, less than 24 hours of leaving my father’s house, Sophia was at the airport in the company of her uncle and his wife with malice aforethought and the aim to do maximum damage that would obstruct her child from travelling aboard to receive necessary and needful medical care. She was welcome to join us if she had bought her ticket or her uncle had funded her for the trip.
“ I offered to buy her a car and suggested a Toyota brand or Hyundai. She lost her cool and told me off. She wanted a fancy jeep and preferably, a Mercedes Benz Jeep. I laughed because she just wanted to be a Lagos Big Girl for nothing. She hardly can cope with the cheapest car much less the ruinous cost of maintaining a Mercedes Benz vehicle. In December she received 500,000 naira as her allowance without doing anything for Imade. Life is not a bed of roses. Neither have I ever promised Sophia a rose garden. Her spontaneous motions of delusions utterly baffle me!
“On her twitter page, she claimed she has recovered Imade from captivity. But Imade never was in captivity. Sophia certainly knows where Imade is. And it is where she left her on December 28, at my father’s house. What is the lie about? Sophia also claimed that she hasn’t seen her daughter in 5 months, this cannot be true. Sophie spent every Sunday with her baby at my father’s house since July 2015 when she voluntarily transferred Imade to the Adeleke family after the cannabis incidence. She and her daughter constantly appear on her face book and twitter pages throughout this period of 5 months. What manner of unreliable and lying person is Sophia? The picture of your reconciliation with Imade after “captivity” that you posted on your twitter page came directly from the photo shoot that you posed for at my father’s house during your Christmas stay. Why can’t you ever be affable with truth nor have a relationship with honour?
“Uncle Dele Momodu was the first to bring this domestic matter online and onto the internet. Uncle Dele Momodu ran smack into the internet highway on December 30 with Video recordings that he dishonestly, immorally and unlawfully recorded at a government facility and office at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos. Uncle, you are wrong and you are not doing the right thing.
“Life is beautiful if we all live in simple ways and do not engage criminal gadgets to replace integrity and honour. Your recordings cannot alter the fact that I am “Davido” father of Imade and it cannot force me to be the husband of your cousin. In truth, I don’t know if you are uncle or cousin to Sophia. Still, Uncle Dele Momodu, it is immoral, unlawful and unethical to clandestinely record anyone, especially friends and family members.
“Late evening on December 30, I responded to your vicious internet publications that attacked me and my family. But my father’s counsel and the love I have for Imade prompted me to recall the arrow aimed at you. You see, my father raised me well, and I promptly complied with his advise. I thus deleted all references to the issue of December 29 at the Airport and apologized to you in particular along with all my fans. I showed you respect even if u had provoked me.
“Instead of reciprocating with love and elderly wisdom, you sustained your attack of me with even more venom and hatefulness. With all due respect for my dad, I am compelled to speak to your lies and your simulation of grand self-importance. I am 23 and you are almost 60. Your cousin has a baby for me. Rather than bring us together as a family, you wished for glowing embers to come out of cool cucumber. This is why you instructed your lawyers to put garbage on the internet in a matter that should be showcased in the court of law. Uncle, who offended you? Is it Davido, Sophia or Imade? It cannot be my late mum after whom I named Imade. Is it my gentle dad?
“I am 23 and a performing artiste that God immensely blessed and I have joyfully made good in the industry. I won’t do this forever, and I shall timely step aside in the nearest future. I have a degree and I am stashing my monies aside so that I can build a decent future for Imade plus my future wife and family. I believe as the bible says, “every good gift is from above”. Vanguard
