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A 20-year-old lady, Miss Miracle Kalu, yesterday told journalists in Lagos that she sold her baby out of frustration.
Miracle said she sold her baby girl for N130,000 to a 40-year-old woman, Mrs. Cecilia Okafor, who took care of her when she was pregnant, homeless and hungry.
She said: “It was frustration that made me to sell my baby.
“It was when I was wondering about in Lagos that the woman saw me. She took good care of me during my antenatal till I gave birth in Imo State.
“When I noticed I was pregnant, I went back to my boyfriend and told him that I was pregnant but he chased me away. He said he didn’t want the baby. That was why I left Imo State for Lagos. When it was time for me to give birth, I went back to Imo State where I was delivered of the baby girl.
“When I had no money to take care of the baby, I told my sister that I wanted to sell my baby and she gave me the go ahead. That was why I decided to call the woman (Okafor) to come and take the baby.
“But if my parents were alive, I wouldn’t sell my baby. They would taken care of me and my baby. My sister has her own challenges too. I dropped out of school at Senior Secondary School II. My boyfriend and I used to meet in his shop. That was where he slept with me and I got pregnant.”
On her part, Okafor said Miracle was wondering about when she saw her and decided to take her to her house, and nurtured her pregnancy till she gave birth.
Okafor added that when Miracle told her she wanted to sell the baby, she inquired from her why she wanted to do so.
She said: “Miracle claimed that there was nobody to care for her and that she needed money to take care of her asthma, and because I was barren for 15 years, I decided to buy the baby from her.
“After we have sealed the deal, she travelled to Imo State where she gave birth to a baby girl. She then informed me of the delivery on the phone. It was then I sent my sister and brother to go to Imo State to bring the baby girl back to Lagos after which I gave them the money to pay to her.
“It was when the people I sent to Imo State to bring the baby were returning to Lagos that policemen arrested them at Anthony Village area, which also led to my arrest and the arrest of my husband.
“I regret my actions. It was because I needed the baby, that was why I decided to buy it. My mates have given birth to three to four children and I am not getting younger. God should forgive me.”
The lady and the man who went to Imo State to bring the baby to Lagos said they were only sent by their sister to bring it.
Miracle, Okafor and the other suspects are already in police custody in Lagos.
Okafor’s sister, Miss Chinonso Ekwelebe, said she was sleeping at home one fateful day when her sister called her that she would be travelling to Imo State to bring a baby girl.
She said: “Because she is my sister, I could not refuse to go. I was preparing when Patric joined me. It was when we were returning to Lagos that policemen arrested us at Anthony Village for flouting the lockdown. While at the police station, the baby was crying and I was asked to breastfeed her. When the policemen noticed I couldn’t breastfeed the baby, they discovered I was not the mother of the baby.
“After much interrogation, Patric and I took the policemen to my sister’s house. She was arrested with her husband.”
The Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odomosu, who paraded the suspects yesterday at the state Police Command Headquarters, Ikeja, said a woman and a man who claimed to be a couple were arrested with a baby girl.
He said: “On April 26, policemen from Anthony Village were on enforcement duty patrol when they pinned down a Toyota Sienna vehicle carrying seven passengers, with a couple who carried a baby.
“When the policemen saw the baby, they detected it to be a stolen one. The passengers claimed they were coming from Orlu in Imo State. During questioning, the suspects who claimed to be a couple, said they were sent to bring the baby from the mother whom the person that sent them had paid.
“The couple who paid for the baby were later arrested by the police and the biological mother of the baby was also arrested in Imo State. We are going to hand over the baby to the biological mother and those who claimed to be couple and the buyers would be charged to court.”