By Muhammadu Sabiu
The police detained a 20-year-old woman and her lover in Ebonyi State for selling their 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, reported that “Mummy Abigail,” a pregnant woman who goes by the moniker, 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 by saying that police in Ebonyi also detained a two-man child trafficking gang that specialized in kidnapping, stealing, and selling children.
Otuu Chizaram, 24, of Ndukwe Akpoha and Agbi Precious, 20, of Evuma Road, both in the Afikpo North Local Government Area of Ebonyi, were identified by Anyawu.
“Each of them confessed to the crime of stealing a baby,’’ Anyanwu added.
