Mohbad: DNA is not recognized in our laws as a way of proving the paternity of a child-Abuja lawyer Stan Alieke, says Abuja-based lawyer, Stan Alieke, has sparked a debate online following his position on the legitimacy of a DNA test to determine the paternity of a child.In a video shared online, Stan argued that a DNA test is not recognised by the laws of Nigeria as a way of proving the paternity of a child. According to him, any child born during the course of a marriage is automatically presumed to be the child of the husband. He stated that even if a marriage is dissolved, if a child is born within 280 days after dissolution, the child is still presumed to be fathered by the man.He mentioned that the court has also noted the customary practices in Nigeria. He said the Supreme Court has noted that in the Yoruba culture, if a man has accepted the pregnancy of a woman or publicly acknowledged the child to be his own, that child will automatically be presumed to be the child of the man. He said if the man alloed the child to take his last name of conducted a naming ceremony for the child, it doesn’t matter if the child is the legitimate child of the man, he will be presumed in law as the son or daughter of the man in question. Alieke said the court has also noted the same thing for the Hausa/Fulani culture.He said the Igbo custom is quite different. He said what determines the paternity of a child is if a man pays the bride price of the woman, he will be presumed to be the father of any and every child born by the woman,He said in Nigerian law, DNA is foreign to Nigerian laws and is always treated as a secondary source of evidence.Credit: stanalieke