Nigeria: Police Arrest Three for Illegal Baby Adoption

“The Abia State Police Command has paraded three suspects for allegedly abducting and selling a two- year-old boy in the state.

The state Commissioner of Police, Mr Anthony Ogbizi, said the parents of the boy reported their son missing at the Omoba Police Station when they couldn’t find him.

He added that the police operatives swung into action acting on a tip-off and arrested the suspects.

Confessing to the crime, one of the suspects identified as Uloma Frank, said a tricycle rider identified only as Ifuoma reportedly gave her the boy to give anyone looking for a child to adopt.

Frank, who is an untrained nurse working in a maternity home at Aba, added that Ifuoma told her that the boy was an orphan.

She said, “It was a tricycle operator that brought the child to me and claimed that his parents were dead.  He asked me to get someone who will take care of him. I gave the baby to my boss, Grace Simon, whom I work in her maternity. She was the person that gave the baby to one Mr Onyebuchi and his wife.

“We agreed to pay Ifuoma N300, 000. But when I was going to give him the money, some boys with a gun robbed me of the money. He later called the police to arrest me to explain how I sold the baby.”

Also, Onyebuchi said he asked Simon to help him get a child for adoption, stating that she later called to inform him that there was a baby available for adoption.

He said, “My neighbour in Port Harcourt was the person who introduced me to Grace Simon. I told her that we needed a child to adopt because we don’t have any.

“We had not completed the transaction because they said if I can take care of the baby I should go with him. But we discussed that I should pay them N600, 000 for the boy. I didn’t know that they were not genuine because they said they were also running a motherless babies home.

“But a month after the adoption of the baby, they came to my house at Port Harcourt with police to arrest me.”

The CP said the suspect would be charged to court soon. He also urged members of the public wishing to adopt children to approach the right government agency instead of patronising operators of baby factories.”

https://punchng.com/police-arrest-three-for-illegal-baby-adoption/

[Punch 11/11/18 by Ogbonnaya Ikokwu]

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