A Mapo Grade ‘A’ Customary Court in Ibadan, Oyo State, has sentenced 50-year-old Bolanle Adeyemo to one year in a correctional centre for possessing and tendering a forged marriage certificate in court.
Delivering judgment on Friday, the President of the court, Mrs S.M. Akintayo, said the conviction was based on Adeyemo’s guilty plea and the evidence presented by the prosecution.
The court sentenced her to one year in the correctional centre on each of counts two and three for unlawful possession and forgery of a marriage certificate. However, she was given the option of one month of community service for each offence.
The court also discharged her on the first count of conspiracy.
Adeyemo’s husband, 55-year-old Adeboye Adeyemo, had filed for divorce on March 26, citing irreconcilable differences between them.
In an attempt to stop the divorce, Bolanle told the court that she had a valid marriage with Adeboye and tendered a marriage certificate as evidence. Her husband challenged the authenticity of the document, prompting the court to order a police investigation.
According to the prosecutor, Insp. Ayodele Ayeni, the alleged offence occurred around 9 a.m. at Mapo, Ibadan.
Ayeni told the court that Adeboye had argued that no marriage certificate was issued to the couple on September 12, 1996, as indicated on the document.
The prosecutor said investigations later revealed that the Ibadan North Local Government registry, which was listed as the issuing authority, denied ever issuing the certificate to Bolanle, confirming that the document was forged.
The offences were said to contravene Sections 516, 465 and 430 of the Criminal Code, Cap. 38, Vol. II, Laws of Oyo State 2000.
