Doctor Sells A Week Old Baby To Barren Couple For N300,000! Pictured

The police in Lagos have arrested a trado-medical doctor ─
Olawale Onalaja ─ for allegedly selling a week-old baby to a couple for N300,000
in the Iyana Ipaja area of Lagos.

Punch Metro learnt that the couple, Dele and Oluwakemi
Ayangbile, who had also been arrested by the police, allegedly paid the sum to
the native doctor before taking the baby to their apartment in the Mile 12
area.

Punch Metro learnt that the mother of the baby, 29-year-old
Idiat Babatunde, was a student of a polytechnic in Osun State, and was
preparing for her convocation when she was delivered of the baby on Saturday,
September 5.

It was gathered that after the delivery, Idiat, who had a
quarrel with her husband, Akinola Babatunde, had taken the baby to Onalaja,
said to be a family friend, on September 13, and requested that he kept the
child for her, while she travelled to school.

Punch correspondent learnt that Onalaja, who lived in Ikola
Odunsi Street in Iyana Ipaja, however, invited the Ayangbiles and sold the baby
to them for N300,000.

It was learnt that when Idiat returned from school, Onalaja
lied that the baby was in custody of a government-owned orphanage where he
would be properly taken care of.

Punch correspondent gathered that the buyers, the
Ayangbiles, took the week-old baby to their rented apartment. But their
suspicious landlord was said to have reported the matter at the Ketu Police
Division after the baby had been with the couple for three days.

Punch correspondent learnt that the police thereafter
arrested the Ayangbiles, and also picked up Onalaja.

The wife, Oluwakemi, said she had been barren since 2009
when she got married, adding that Onalaja, who was a family friend, had earlier
advised her to adopt a child.

She said, “I have known the traditional doctor since 2013. I
got married in 2009 and I used to have miscarriages. It was while looking for
treatment that I met him. In 2014, he advised that I should adopt a baby, but I
did not agree.

“Two Mondays ago, he called me on the telephone and said I
should meet him. He told me that he had a baby at hand to give us, adding that
he would obtain all the necessary papers. I then discussed it with my husband
and he said we should go for the baby since Onalaja was going to get the
papers. He did not tell us that the baby’s mother was not aware of the
transaction.

“I paid him N300,000, and brought the baby home. But after
three days, the police came to arrest my husband and I. We have been barren for
six years, and we need a child. We mean no harm to the baby.”

Onalaja, however, told our correspondent he collected only
N156,000 from the couple, which was the sum to process papers from the
government ministry in Alausa.

He said, “The agreement between the mother of the baby and I
was that I would take the baby to an orphanage. The mother agreed to collect
the baby back after three months in government’s custody.

“It is true that I collected N156,000 from Kemi and gave the
baby to her. I wanted to take the baby to Alausa to register in an orphanage.
But I was called on the telephone that the couple was arrested by the police.
That was how I was also arrested. I do not sell babies. The mother is known to
me.”

The mother of the baby, Idiat, said she had a quarrel with
her husband, who was away in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, and she gave the baby
to Onalaja, so she could concentrate on her academics.

She said, “I had a quarrel with my husband, and so he was
not at home when the baby was born.

“I gave the baby to Onalaja a week after while I went to
school. It was when I returned that I realised that my baby had been sold. But
I am happy to be reunited with him.”

A police source, however, told our correspondent that the
mother of the baby knew about the sale of the baby.

The Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, said the baby had
been reunited with the parents, while the suspects would be charged to court.