Now, marriages are for better, for worse….In a situation whereby one of the parties has hidden agenda, in a well celebrated marriage calls for serious worry. My heart weeps for this dastard act of a ball-less  man.
Two couples (who were earlier married to different persons) married each other in a traditional way since by the rites of Apostolic churches (CAC), they cannot be married in the church again. They also did court marriage to make it all binding. But the husband skillfully omitted his signature, he must have collaborated with the lawyer who was his old-school mate and the marriage registry officials.
The wife is not educated and therefore she didn’t raise much dust but after two weeks, she met the lawyer and requested for an explanation, he told her not to bother cos everything was intact. The husband works in Nassarawa, returns to Kuru once in two weeks. They stayed for two years before the first child, one month after….he absconded, he never returned and he changed his line. His guardians were contacted and they explained their tied-handedness since he wasn’t reachable. She frequented his office to complain, but she was barred from seeing him as he denied knowing her.  He even married another lady there and fathered two kids with her in 4yrs. Still on still she took care of her baby, through his primary school and he is now 11yrs old. He is asking genuine questions because an attempt was made by this man to kidnap his son, whose feeding and upkeep he never bordered or gave a penny for. By Nigerian marital laws, this son is his after 6yrs, if he so decides to have him. But what about the expenses the woman incurred on his upbringing, what about the medical costs, what about the schooling. According to the guy at the open registry in the high court in Jos, he would have incurred 5yrs jail term if he signed that document and absconded. But the document can’t be tendered because his signature isn’t on it. Pls what can she do, as she is undergoing her worst moments in life….this guy mustn’t go free. Thanks in anticipation of your responses.

where are the witnesses? shouldn't court wedding have  2 witness signatures? also, a magistrate (or is it judge) should be at hand to supervise the entire procedure. i don't know much about court weddings but this case is a bit hard to believe.

@poster
as much as it must be painful for this woman, she has to think of the well being of the child FIRST and whats beneficial for him.
let the court deal accordingly with the father but using the child as weight for her hate towards this guy would be pointless.

this lady should accept some of the blame for being in the unpleasant situation she found herself into. after all,  she chose to marry this guy, no one else.

thats her child and therefore she shouldnt expect any payback from raising that child alone, how hard as it may have been, let the court decide on how much(if anything) should be awarded to you.
the "deadbeat/con artist"status of this man has already been confirmed but that shouldnt stop him from SEEING the child.

@MRbrownJAY , THANKS
Yes, actually they witnesses signed and the lady signed, but the guy didnt sign, the lawyer who officiated it took the papers to each one to sign. It wasnt done in the court but in the lawyers's chamber.
It hurts real bad, apart from petting and trying to make this woman strong, practical solution is what i want for her.

talk2ahmed:

@MRbrownJAY , THANKS
Yes, actually they witnesses signed and the lady signed, but the guy didnt sign, the lawyer who officiated it took the papers to each one to sign. It wasnt done in the court but in the lawyers's chamber.
It hurts real bad, apart from petting and trying to make this woman strong, practical solution is what i want for her.

@talktoahmed, there are so many inconsistencies in your post and i will love to straightened out those grey areas.
1-No lawyer conducts a marriage , Marriages are conducted at marriage registries across the nation and most of these registries are in local govt headquarters .Marriages are conducted by an official of the marriage registry and not a lawyer as you stated.Are u telling me that marriages are now conducted in Lawyers chambers?thats illogical and its a fraud if it HAD EVER HAPPENED. check your facts

2.The marriage certificate is one long paper and the husband signs first before the wife and both parties sign in their presence and in the presence of their witnesses and its awkward for you to say that the certificate was moved from one person to another to sign differently.The woman should have been observant and unless the registry officials were compromised, non signing of the certificate by the husband couldnt have happened.
The woman had to report to child services in the state she is living or consult a lawyer to help her out. HER CASE is sortable and not too difficult to maintain custody of her kid.
Tell your person to check her info and not give some illogical comments pls

There is nothing much she can do. The absence of the man's signature makes the marriage illegally binding. She has been brain-washed.

Anything she will be doing in court or fetish will be detrimental to her kid. Advise her to move on. The earlier she moves on the better. She should stop crying over spit milk.

yes , photos exist, the marriage was legally conducted. only that it wasnt in court and the guy didnt pen it, Now the case even if it has to make a point in court can be substantiated with the marriage certificate and or photos as you said, Am with you. She made gross error, seeing that her hussy didnt sign it yet she kept living with him and agreeing to matrimonial offers