Some medical doctors in the country have said there has been a significant increase in the number of people coming for DNA (paternity) testing to establish the paternity of their child.

However, the doctors said the increase preceded the ongoing paternity scandal involving the Managing Director of First City Monument Bank (FCMB), Adam Nuru, and a former employee of the bank, Moyo Thomas.

On social media, the scandal has generated conversations and questions around the prevalence of paternity fraud in marriage and the need for paternity testing to establish who the real father of a child is.

Nuru was alleged to have had a romantic affair with Moyo, and fathered her two children, while the latter was still married to Tunde Thomas, who died on December 16, 2020.

Friends of the deceased had in a petition claimed that Tunde died as a result of depression after discovering his two supposed children with Moyo belong to the FCMB MD.

Speaking with SaharaReporters, a medical doctor at the National Hospital, Abuja, said there has been an increase in the rate at which people come for DNA testing at the facility.

He, however, added that the surge preceded the FCMB MD's marriage scandal.

He said: "There is an increase in the number of people taking paternity tests because of the awareness, even privately some people call and say they want to do a paternity test, how do they go about it? Some say their friends need to take the test, so there has been an increase."

The doctor attributed the development to several factors, including the seemingly rising cases of infidelity in marriages and the need to establish paternity as a requirement during processing for migration.

He said: "A factor could be the increase in migration; a lot of people travel out, and relocate. Some of the countries they go to like the US, Canada, and so on request for DNA tests.

"Not all of these countries but some ask for it so generally it's (paternity testing has) been on the increase. Once in a while you get calls that people want to do a test and it was not like that two to three years ago.

"People are taking paternity testing now due to the increase in infidelity among partners. Some girls, even outside wedlock, might want to pin a pregnancy on a man and even when the child is born. So, a DNA test is conducted so the man will know if the child is actually his.

"Another form of DNA test can be done when the baby is in the womb, it's not necessarily only when the child is born that it can be done.

"Anytime an issue like this comes up, people tend to take action more because of the high rate of infidelity amongst Nigerians. There's a high rate of infidelity in Nigeria, we don't just like talking about it."

Also speaking, another medical doctor, Segun Bankole, noted: "Paternity testing has been on the increase for more than three years. People have been requesting for paternity testing for a very long time, especially those who have divorce issues."

Saharareporters