{"id":1055,"date":"2026-07-13T06:42:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T05:42:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/?p=1055"},"modified":"2026-07-13T06:42:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T05:42:12","slug":"court-hears-child-custody-dispute-adjourn-cases","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/?p=1055","title":{"rendered":"Court Hears Child Custody Dispute, Adjourn Cases"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By<\/strong> Christabel<\/strong> Otutu<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Proceedings at the High Court of Justice, Abraka, on Thursday, June 16, 2026, were dominated by civil matters, including a child custody dispute and applications for amendment of court processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The court, however, adjourned all matters on the cause list to later dates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sitting offered insight into the routine administration of justice in the court, which operates under the supervision of Dr. Emiaso, the Assistant Chief Registrar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During an orientation session with court officials on June 23, 2026, Dr. Emiaso explained the structure and daily operations of the court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said the court is open for official business from Monday to Friday, while actual hearings are held on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Persons with matters before the court are referred to as litigants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to him, cases are scheduled based on the court\u2019s calendar. For instance, a criminal case filed today may be assigned a hearing date about 14 days later, depending on availability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also explained the difference between manual and digital case filing, how cases are assigned and managed, and the general duties of court staff to ensure smooth operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Delta State Judiciary, he noted, comprises the High Court of Justice, Juvenile Court, Magistrate Court, and Customary Courts at Area and District levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the major cases heard was a child custody dispute between Emmanuel Onivire, the petitioner, and Goldstones Onivire, the respondent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mercy Edorie was called as a witness and sworn in with the Holy Bible. During cross-examination, counsel questioned her on issues relating to the welfare of the child and the relationship between the parties, including whether there was any reason the petitioner should not have access to his daughter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The petitioner told the court he was seeking access to his daughter, while the respondent opposed the application. Documents including a marriage certificate were tendered as exhibits. After listening to submissions from both legal representatives, the court adjourned the matter to July 30, 2026, for continuation of hearing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In another matter, Case No. SUP\/HCA\/1D\/2026, Godscare Onivie filed for divorce and custody of a child against Emmanuel Onivie. Both parties were present.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Emmanuel Onivie told the court he had been caring for the child since December 2025 and denied the allegations. He stated that the petitioner left the child with him due to health challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Godscare Onivie, however, maintained her request for divorce and custody. The court adjourned the case to June 30, 2026, for further hearing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two other divorce cases were also adjourned due to the absence of parties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Case No. HCA\/42\/2026 between Emmanuel Shaluku and Esther Moye Shaluku, the petitioner was absent, and the court adjourned to July 21, 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Case No. HCA\/9D\/2026 between Mrs. Odiriverere Omowaye and Mr. Babatunde Johnson Omowaye, the respondent failed to appear, and the matter was adjourned to June 28, 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The court also granted an unopposed application for amendment of pleadings in one suit. In another matter relating to service of court processes, counsel updated the court and the case was adjourned to allow parties to complete necessary legal procedures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After all matters on the cause list were either heard or adjourned, lawyers, litigants, and court officials exited the courtroom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Officials said about five cases were listed for the day, but none was concluded. The proceedings reflected the court\u2019s ongoing effort to manage its docket and resolve family and civil disputes through due legal process.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Christabel Otutu Proceedings at the High Court of Justice, Abraka, on Thursday, June 16, 2026, were dominated by civil matters, including a child custody dispute and applications for amendment of court processes. The court, however, adjourned all matters on the cause list to later dates. The sitting offered insight into the routine administration of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1025,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"iawp_total_views":3,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[218,257,267],"class_list":["post-1055","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-trendingnews","tag-court","tag-court-proceedings","tag-high-court"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1055","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1055"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1055\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1058,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1055\/revisions\/1058"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1025"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}