50-year-old woman jailed for forging marriage certificate

A Mapo Grade ‘A’ Customary Court in Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State, has sentenced a 50-year-old woman, Bolanle Adeyemo, to one year in the correctional centre for possessing and forging a marriage certificate in court.

Delivering judgement on Friday, August 14, 2026, the president of the court, S.M. Akintayo, said she convicted and sentenced Bolanle based on her guilty plea and the evidence tendered against her by the prosecution.

Akintayo added that the court exercised its discretion in sentencing Bolanle after she pleaded guilty to the charges preferred against her.

Akintayo therefore sentenced the woman to one year in the correctional centre for each of counts two and three, respectively, with an option of one month of community service for the offences of unlawful possession and forgery of marriage certificate.

She discharged the convict of the first count of conspiracy.

The woman’s husband, 55-year-old Adeboye Adeyemo, had on March 26 filed a divorce suit against Bolanle due to the misunderstandings between them.

However, in her attempt to save the marriage, Bolanle told the court that she had a valid marriage with Adeyemo, adding that marriage should not be dissolved.

The woman therefore tendered the forged marriage certificate to substantiate her claim which was opposed by Adeyemo.

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Consequently, the court ordered the police to carry out a thorough investigation to unravel the truth.

The prosecutor, Inspector Ayodele Ayeni, said the woman tendered the forged marriage certificate before the court as evidence in a divorce suit filed against her by Adeyemo.

Ayeni told the court that Adeyemo opposed the acceptability of the exhibit, arguing that no marriage certificate was issued to them on September 12, 1996.

The prosecutor said an investigation conducted revealed that Ibadan North Local Government registry which was on the certificate denied ever issuing any marriage certificate to Bolanle and that the one in her possession was fake.

He added that the offences contravened the provision of sections 516, 465 and 430 of the criminal code cap 38 vol. ii law of Oyo State.