How breast-feeding exposed baby factory syndicate

LAGOS — Plans by a 25-year-old mother of four to sell a
one-week-old baby boy, who was stolen in Onitsha,
Anambra State, to a barren woman in Lagos, has been
botched and the suspect arrested.
It was her inability to breast-feed
the baby that set off the alarm,
which led to her arrest and
subsequent confession.
The suspect, who claimed to be
a farmer and an apprentice in
Onitsha, said she was on her
way to hand over the baby to the
buyer at Cele Bus Stop, along the
Oshodi/Apapa Express-way,
when she was arrested.
Preliminary investigation, as
gathered, revealed that the baby
was stolen from his biological
mother, who fled home on
discovering she was pregnant.
Trouble started for the suspect, identified as Nkechi Obi,
after the driver of the vehicle she chartered from Asaba,
Delta State, became suspicious when he observed that she
never breastfed the baby, even though the child cried
ceaselessly during the six-hour journey to Lagos.
Not satisfied with her incoherent explanation, the driver
was said to have stopped at Oshodi, where he alerted
some policemen who subsequently subjected the suspect
to interrogation during which it was discovered that the
baby was not hers.
Suspect’s tale
The suspect claimed that the baby was given to her by her
boss, whose identity she gave simply as Ngozi, in Onitsha,
to take to a ready buyer in Lagos.
She said: “I was in the shop located at 2 Ourline Street,
Onitsha Main Market on Tuesday, when my madam, who I
sell clothes for, came and ordered me to go and change
into something better, that I was to embark on a journey
to Lagos.
“Thereafter, she handed the baby to me and gave me a
food flask and baby milk. She only gave me the telephone
number of the woman I was to hand the baby over to. The
woman in question is barren. I was to meet with her at
Cele Bus Stop. The would-be buyer was arrested.”
Report had it that the would-be buyer had two female
children, but opted to adopt a male child due to pressure
from her husband who threatened to marry another
woman.
Asked if her husband was aware of her journey to Lagos,
Obi who claimed to be an orphan, said she had separated
from her husband, who she alleged used her as a baby
factory.
‘I was baby factory for my husband’
She said: “I got married aged 16 years to Polycap Eze, who
had no child from his wife. I was brought in to bear
children for them. After the birth of my fourth child, he
drove me out of the house, saying I have fulfilled the
purpose for which he married me.
“I moved in with one of my relatives who later introduced
me to my madam.”
Speaking on her arrest, Lagos State Commissioner of
Police, Fatai Owoseni, said when the lady was arrested,
she claimed that the baby was hers.
He said: “She claimed at first that her lover abandoned
her with the baby. Later, she confessed that her aunt was
a co-suspect. Two other persons, who have connection
with the sale of the one-week-old baby, were also
arrested.
“We have kept the baby in proper custody through the
Family Support Unit. Further investigation into the case
has taken us to the eastern part of the country where the
principal suspect lives.
“But she fled on hearing that we have arrested Nkechi Obi.
We will ensure that everyone behind this case is arrested.”