Nigeria’s leading forensic laboratory, Smart DNA, has published its 2025 Annual DNA Testing Report, exposing disturbing truths about paternity and family trust in the country.
The report shows a 13.1% rise in DNA testing between July 2024 and June 2025, fueled mostly by immigration demands linked to the Japa wave. But the most alarming revelation is that 25% of tested men were not the biological fathers of the children they were raising.
Though slightly lower than 2024’s 27%, the figures mean one in four Nigerian men still receive devastating results after undergoing paternity tests. Firstborns were the hardest hit, with 64% of disputed firstborn sons and many firstborn daughters proven not to belong to their presumed fathers.
Immigration-related testing also jumped to 13.1%, reflecting the massive relocation wave as families seek citizenship documents abroad.
The gender divide in testing was stark: nearly 90% of tests were ordered by men, while women accounted for just 11.8%.
Smart DNA’s Operations Manager, Elizabeth Digia, called the findings a national wake-up call, stressing that Nigeria has no laws against paternity fraud, unlike South Africa. This leaves men without legal recourse even after years of unknowingly raising children that are not theirs.
She urged reforms, insisting that DNA testing should be normalised through public health campaigns and included in premarital and family health programmes.
