25-Year Old Nabbed With Stolen Baby From Imo Sold For N1m To Lagos Couple

A 25-year-old woman, Ogechi Njoku, and two accomplices have been arrested
by the police in Lagos after they allegedly stole a week-old baby from Imo
State, and sold him to a couple in the Cele, Mile 2 area of the state for the
sum of N1m.

Punch Metro learnt that Njoku was arrested by policemen attached to the
Makinde division around 2am on Wednesday, November 4, on her way to deliver the
baby to the couple.

A Punch correspondent gathered that during investigation, Njoku led the
State Intelligence Bureau, which handled the matter, to arrest her two
accomplices – Patience Nwaogbo and Ngozi Izuora.

It was learnt that Njoku, a sales girl in Omuwa Town, Imo, was sent by
her accomplices last Tuesday to Lagos, and had travelled in a car with the baby
throughout the night.

Punch Metro learnt that the commercial driver, however, became suspicious
when Njoku could not breastfeed the baby when he cried, but instead gave him
baby food.

The driver was said to have alerted the police on patrol when they got to
the Oshodi Oke area of the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway, and Njoku was interrogated
and arrested.

According to the police, Njoku, Nwaogbo and Izuora have made confessional
statements, while their collaborator, said to be Njoku’s aunt, is still on the
run.

Speaking with Punch Metro, Njoku, who claimed to have four children in
Imo, said the plan was that she would give the baby to the couple in the Cele
area, adding that he, however, started crying when they got to Lagos.

She said, “I have not been to Lagos before. I work as an apprentice in a
shop in Onitsha, Anambra State. It was my aunt, Madam Ngozi, who asked me to
bring the baby to the couple after they had made payment to her.

“My aunt collected the baby from a lady in Imo who wanted to dispose of
him. I do not know how much she gave the mother of the baby. I started off this
journey at about 11am on Tuesday. I took a private car and my aunt paid the
fare.

“She had collected the N1m, but she had yet to give me any share as of
when I travelled. While in the car, I could not breastfeed the baby. I was
giving him only baby food.

“When we got to Lagos, the baby started crying and I gave him more
formula. I had not met the buyers before. I was only given their phone number
and I was to meet them in the Cele area. The wife of the man is barren, and she
wanted to adopt the baby. The police have arrested the couple too, but they
were released on bail.”

Njoku, who noted that she did not mean any harm to the baby, said her
children were with a guardian in Imo.

“The driver suspected that I was not the baby’s mother and reported me to
policemen on patrol. I have four children too in Imo. They are with a guardian.
But I am not living with my husband. We had a quarrel,” she added.

The baby who is now under police care is yet to be reunited with his
parents.

The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, who paraded the
suspect, said the police were on the trail of other members of the syndicate in
Imo State.