Woman says she bought baby because she had been barren for 1 5yrs
Joy Anyim
A 20-year-old lady, Miracle Kalu, who allegedly sold her month-old newborn babe for N130,000, has said that her health condition dragged her into selling the baby.
Miracle, who was arrested alongside four of her accomplices, claimed she had been battling with Ulcer before she got pregnant for her lover in Imo State.
Miracle, an indigene of Ohafia in Abia State, said since she could not fend for herself nor the baby, she was left with the option of selling the 28-day-old baby baby to a Lagos -based woman, Cecilia Okafor, 40.
The deal was, however, exposed after two of the accomplices, Patrick Mbama, 41, and Ogechi Chinonso Ekwebele, 30, were arrested at Anthony area of Lagos State, while returning from Imo State, where they had travelled to smuggle the baby to Lagos.
Parading the suspects, on Monday, at the Lagos State Police Command Headquarters in Ikeja, Commissioner of Police in Lagos State, Mr. Hakeem Odumosu, revealed that Mbama and Ekwebele had pretended to be a couple.
CP Odumosu revealed that the said ‘couple’ were intercepted in a Toyota Sienna SUV carrying seven passengers.
He said the baby was crying in the vehicle and the supposed mother of the child, Ekwebele, was advised by co-passengers to breastfeed the baby.
Ekwebele’s hesitation to breastfeed the baby reportedly raised their suspicion.
CP Odumosu said, “ On April 26, 2020, at 2:00a.m., police officers from Anthony Division, on enforcement duty at Anthony Oke pin down point intercepted a Toyota Sienna SUV carrying seven passengers.
“Among the passengers were Patrick Mbama and Ogechi Chinonso Ekwebele, traveling together with a baby of about a month old, suspected to be stolen.
“They were coming from Orlu, Imo State. All the occupants of the vehicle were arrested for violating the ban on inter states travel and the vehicle is impounded.
“Upon questioning, this particular childless couple claimed that a childless man and wife in Lagos had paid for the said baby.
“The childless couple, Izuchukwu Okafor, 51, and Cecilia Okafor, 40, who ordered for the baby were arrested.
“The name of the child’s parent as contained in the birth certificate recovered is that of the buyers. The baby’s date of birth was dated March 23, 2020.
“The biological parents of the baby were traced. The baby is at the social welfare department of the Lagos State Government, and if the biological mother wants the baby back, she may have to apply.”
Speaking to journalists, Miracle Kalu said she was an orphan and a secondary school dropout.
Making confessional statement, she said: “When I got pregnant, my boyfriend, whose house I do not know, abandoned me. He denied the pregnancy saying he was not responsible for it.
“Since I was leaving with my elder sister who is also struggling, I had to live the house and look for a means of survival. I agreed to give birth to the baby at God’s Own Maternity in Imo State and sell the baby afterwards.”
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On how she spent the N130,000 she was paid, Miracle continued, “ I bought drugs, and took care of my health, because I have Ulcer. ”
On her part, Okafor said it was the quest to have a child of her own that forced her into buying the baby.
She said, “Being barren for 15 years was not easy. So, when I heard there was a girl who was pregnant and did not want to keep the baby, I had to take care of her.
“I took care of her from antenatal until she gave birth. She told me she had asthma and that was why she agreed to sell the baby.
“I paid her N130,000 for the baby and she told me she was an orphan.”
A senior police officer, whose identity could not be revealed, alleged that Miracle was notorious for the act, as it was not her first time of giving birth and selling off her baby.