Nneka Donatus, a 27-year-old single mother, has been arrested by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Imo State Police Command for selling her baby girl a day after putting to bed.
Donatus was arrested alongside a level 12 civil servant at the state Ministry of Women Affairs, Ujunwa Udechukwu, 40; and Nneoma Onwusereaka, 37; who allegedly facilitated the transaction between the single mother and a couple.
Speaking to Southern City News at the command headquarters in Owerri on Thursday, Donatus said she sold the baby to buy a phone, wrapper and slippers for herself, since she won’t be able to raise the newborn alongside her other five children.
The woman, who spoke in her native dialect, said, “I sold my baby girl for N600,000 and used N15,000 from the money to buy a phone, wrapper and slippers and transported myself back home.
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“I asked Nneoma Onwusereaka and her husband, who had the balance to use it to start a business for me. I have five children already and I am separated from my former husband.”
The civil servant who allegedly connived with Donatus to sell the baby told the police that she was rewarded with N10,000 for connecting the buyer with the seller.
The 40-year-old civil servant admitted that she made a mistake, adding that the N10,000 was paid into her account the following day.
Herald Nigeria gathered that the mother of the woman reported her to the SARS operatives when the baby was nowhere to be found following her birth on March 28.
The state Commissioner of Police, Rabiu Ladodo, explained that his command was fighting hard to ensure that child trafficking, which he considered as a serious crime against humanity, was curbed in the state.