Matters of The Nigerian Bar

BEYOND POSSESSION: HOW NIGERIAN COURTS DEFINE CHILD CUSTODY. | Lydia Ehisuoria Ohonsi, Esq.

The dissolution of a marriage marks a profound reconfiguration of a family's structure, but it does not dissolve the sacred responsibility towards the children of that union. In the ensuing legal contest over custody, the question of who is awarded the primary care of a child is one of the most consequential decisions a court can make.   In Nigeria, while the Matrimonial Causes Act provides the statutory scaffolding, it is the superior courts—the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court—that have breathed life, meaning, and profound moral aut…