In Ebonyi State, the police have detained a 20-year-old woman and her lover for selling their newborn baby boy to a maternity homeowner for N500,000.
Jonah Ogbuagu, a bricklayer, impregnated the mother, Ola China, 20, of Amangwu Edda in Afikpo North Local Government Area of Ebonyi in August 2021.
In April 2022, Ola gave birth to the child in Obigbo, Rivers, where she had gone to hibernate at her aunt’s house throughout the pregnancy.
After giving birth, she and Ogbuagu plotted to sell the child.
On Tuesday, SP Chris Anyanwu, the police spokesman in Ebonyi, said that “Mummy Abigail,” a pregnant woman, had been taken into custody in Ovima, another local government area in Afikpo North.
“Mummy Abigail runs a maternity home which she uses as a cover for her illicit trade.
“The suspects have been handed over to the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons for necessary actions and prosecution,’’ SP Anyanwu stated.
He added that police in Ebonyi also arrested a two-man syndicate of child traffickers, who specialise in stealing, abducting, kidnapping and selling children.
Anyawu gave their details as Otuu Chizaram, 24, from Ndukwe Akpoha, and Agbi Precious, 20, of Evuma Road both in Afikpo North Local Government Area of Ebonyi.
“Each of them confessed to the crime of stealing a baby, ’’Anyanwu added.