…bust baby factory in Abia.
A 40-year-old man simply identified as
Monday Chukwuka has been apprehended by the Oyo State Police Command for selling his grandchild for ₦700,000.
Chukwuka was said to have sold his one-day-old grandchild belonging to his teenage daughter to a criminal cartel that operates a baby factory in Abia State.
Narrating how it happened in pidgin English, Chukwuka said: “So, as she made a mistake by getting pregnant, as she has born the baby, with the situation in Nigeria, I can’t take care of her, and my daughter cannot take care of the baby, which is why I sold the baby.
“I sell the baby for ₦700,000. My wife is aware. This is my first time doing it. I got into the negotiation through my sister, who works as a housekeeper for the woman who bought the baby; that’s where I got the connection.
“I was born and brought up in Oyo before I went to Lagos and decided to come back to Oyo to do business. I use the ₦700,000 to rent a shop and buy some market so I can start selling things.”
The suspect said he took the baby to Abia State where he sold her to the owner of a baby factory located at Obehi, Ukwa West in Abia State.
The woman who bought the baby, Favour Chukwu, said she just got into the business and has bought the baby for a couple who are in need of a child.
Chukwu explained that, “yes, I bought a baby. I sell herbs for a living. I sold the baby because they say they can’t take care of the baby”.
When asked how long she has been in the business, she said it was just her first time venturing into the business.
“No. I’ve not been doing the business before. A couple have been looking for a baby for a long time, So that’s it. I bought the baby for the couple.
It’s the couple that brought the ₦700,000. My share of the money is ₦50,000. I gave the remaining ₦650,000 to Peter. This is my first time doing it”.
The teenage mother, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said her mother opted for abortion when she found out she was pregnant. “The time that I born the baby, I born her on July 10, and my dad came the second day on July 11.”
The primary six student said her father told her that they wanted to take care of the baby and would return it after two years.
Others arrested in connection with the child’s sale after investigation was extended to Abia State and a coordinated raid on the baby factory, are Popoola Bunmi, Chinwendu Peter, Chidinma Blessing and Chukwu Christopher with a bundle of new birth certificates and some equipment being used for baby deliveries, which the suspects were unable to give any satisfactory explanation about, including the parentage of the babies recovered from the factory.
The Commissioner of Police, Adebola Hamzat, said the chief mastermind of the crime, who identified himself as “Peter Monday Chukwuka”, was arrested at his hideout in the Ibafo area of Ogun State.
Hamzat said the suspects would be charged in court upon the completion of investigation.
