Parternity Fraud: Report shows Nigerian men initiate DNA test more

Nigerian men are the doubting Thomas in marriages as they are often the first to initiate expensive out-of-pocket DNA tests, findings revealed. 

This DNA test is mostly conducted to authenticate the biological father of a child, most especially the male child. 

This is according to a recent comprehensive data report by SMART DNA, a private DNA testing centre based in Lagos State.

The report details data analysis of all relationship DNA tests conducted by thousands of users at its facility between July 1, 2022, and June 30, 2023.

It provides an insight into the DNA testing trends across Nigeria and revelation of motives behind testing, demographics and findings. 

The centre stated that Smart DNA is committed to providing fully accredited DNA testing services to clients in accordance with the highest international standards, adding that the report is to help contribute to a better understanding of DNA testing in Nigeria.

Men initiate DNA tests more 

Findings by the private DNA testing centre show that men are more likely to have doubts about paternity or other relationships and take the initiative to seek testing.

This is as its data analysis reveals that men were the predominant initiators of contact, making up 86.44 percent of the first contacts.

Women, on the other hand, made contact only on a few occasions, making up 13.56 percent.

Meanwhile, on test results, the report said that positive results, indicating that the man tested is the biological father of the child, were found in 73.88 percent of tests, while negative results made up 26.12 percent.

These findings suggest that in the majority of cases, the men seeking testing are indeed the biological fathers, but in more than one in four cases, the tested father is not the biological father of the child.

According to the analysis, men between the ages of 31 to 40 (40 percent) and 41 to 50 (23 percent) conducted the most DNA tests, as these are the age groups that are likely to have young children and may be in a financial position to afford the testing.

In addition, more tests were conducted on children less than five years old (58.02 percent), followed by the six to 12 age group (25.95 percent), indicating that paternity tests are mostly done on children when they are younger rather than when they get older.

‘Peace of Mind’

Findings in the report based on test type analysis show that majority of tests (89.10 percent) were conducted for ‘Peace of Mind’, followed by ‘Immigration’ (8.97 percent), and ‘Legal’ (0.64 percent), suggesting that individuals primarily seek DNA testing to confirm biological relationships for personal reasons, rather than legal or immigration purposes.

Yoruba dominated States lead others in DNA testing 

In its analysis of the geographical spread of paternity, Lagos State had the highest percentage of tests, with 82.89 percent of the total, followed by Oyo State (3.29 percent), Ogun State (3.07 percent), FCT (2.63 percent) and Rivers State (2.41 percent).

Further analysis reveals that the Yoruba ethnic group had the highest percentage of tests (61.23 percent), followed by Igbo (19.07 percent), Edo (6.78 percent), others (12.08 percent), while more tests were conducted on male children (56.62 percent) compared to female children (43.38 percent).