A former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, has separated from his wife, Precious Chikwendu, with whom he had four sons.
Fani-Kayode has, however, written a pre-litigation letter to popular blogger, Stella Dimokorkus, demanding N2bn from her for a report he termed libelous.
The blogger had, in a report, attributed the separation to domestic violence and alleged that the male triplets might not have been fathered by Fani-Kayode as they were conceived through IVF and Chikwendu had demanded a DNA test.
In a letter by his lawyer, Mr Adeola Adedipe, dated September 16, 2020, the former minister described the report as preposterous.
The letter titled, ‘Defamation of Chief Femi Fani-Kayode – Re: Femi Fani-Kayode and Precious Chikwendu Part Ways Over Alleged Domestic Violence,’ stated that the allegations were spurious and maliciously engineered.
The former minister denied allegations that he retrieved the car he bought for his estranged wife and had left her broke.
Fani-Kayode said it was saddening that his innocent little children could be dragged into such a report, subjecting them to ridicule.
The letter further read, “Our client is aggrieved and has instructed us to draw your attention to these libelous breaches of his person and family. By this publication, our client has received denigrating phone calls and messages across the globe by virtue of which he now suffers immeasurable loss of goodwill.
“However, he is inclined to draw a curtain over the wild and spurious claims if you retract the allegations on the same platform they were published and consequently apologise to him in two other national dailies.
“You are also advised to enter into negotiations with us for the sum of N2bn only, being a token amount for penitence. Please bear in mind that you have 14 days from receipt of this letter to comply with the highlighted mitigating measures, the failure of which will leave our client with no preferred alternative but to seek redress in court.”
An uncle to Fani-Kayode’s estranged wife, Reverend Okey Onyemachi, told The PUNCH on Thursday that the allegations of domestic violence were false and asked members of the public to regard it.
“Where did they get all the false information from? Did they speak with Chief Fani-Kayode or Precious to ascertain if it is true? To the best of my knowledge, there was never any incident of domestic violence.
“Nobody should drag those little children into this sort of thing. Why would someone claim he is not the real father?”
Fani-Kayode and Chikwendu, who is a former beauty queen, became an item around 2015 and subsequently welcomed a son in 2016.
In 2018, they welcomed a set of male triplets.
Credit: The Punch