A woman, Oluchukwu Nwosu, who was accused of selling her three-month-old grandchild for N50,000 in Anambra State has been arrested.
Chidinma Ikeanyionwu, the media aide to the state Commissioner for Women and Social Welfare, Ify Obinabo, who disclosed this in a press statement on Sunday, October 22, 2023, said the baby was rescued following a report by his mother, Ijeoma Nwosu.
According to Ijeoma, her mother forcefully sold her baby soon after he was born and has since refused to tell her where he is.
“Ify Obinabo, the commissioner for Women and Social Welfare in Anambra State, has rescued a three-month-old baby who had been sold by the grandmother,” the statement read.
“The rescue occurred in response to a report by Ijeoma Nwosu, who claimed that Oluchukwu Nwosu, her mother, forcefully sold her baby soon after he was born and has since refused to tell her where he is.
“Following receipt of the allegation, the Women and Social Welfare Commissioner immediately took action to identify and apprehend the perpetrators
“After almost a month of consistent intelligence surveillance by the State Ministry of Women and Social Welfare Awka, the offenders were caught,”
Speaking just moments after saving the three-month-old child, Hon. Obinabo bemoaned the fact that despite the state government’s efforts to put an end to all forms of illegal adoption, some people continue to practice the crime, undermining those efforts.
Hon. Obinabo thus issued a warning that anyone found participating in an unlawful adoption must face legal action.
“This is the third time Oluchukwu Nwosu’s daughter Ijeoma has conceived outside of marriage, and according to her daughter, Oluchukwu Nwosu sold out the three-month-old baby while sobbing and pleading for forgiveness,” the statement further revealed.
“She said she sold the baby for 50,000 thousand naira, noting that her two older sons are already being cared for by the state community children’s home in Awka.
“Mrs. Nwosu claimed that due to their low income and lack of childcare, they have had trouble feeding themselves from the time her daughter gave birth to the present.
“Mrs. Nwosu described how she came across a buyer as being approached by one Tochukwu Asiegbu, who after some haggling paid her the agreed upon sum.
“Tochukwu Asiegbu claimed that because he gave Oluchukwu Nwosu everything that was provided, he only got a profit of 30,000 naira from the deal
“Sadly, such wasn’t the case with the buyer, Evelyn Egwuatu, a native of Uruagu Nnewi, who reported that she paid one Ebelechukwu Uba from Ebonyi but a resident of Anambra the sum of 200,000 thousand naira to obtain the child for her
“Ebelechukwu Uba claims that Tochukwu Asiegbu and Ijeoma Nwosu’s mother, Oluchukwu Nwosu, and not Ijeoma Nwosu herself, made the decision to deliver the child to Evelyn Egwuatu
“They all agreed that the incident occurred about three months ago, but to everyone’s greatest surprise, the baby is sick and underweight because he was fed soya bean powder instead of the proper baby food because, according to the buyer, she didn’t have the money to buy the baby food he needed.
“All of the perpetrators of this act have been found and given to the police for additional questioning and investigation as of the time of this report.”