A Nigerian human trafficking agency has arrested four women for allegedly selling a newborn for ₦1.5m, officials said on Thursday.
According to the police, one of the suspects is the grandmother of the child. She is said to have connived with three others – including her own sister – to sell the baby.
Three of the suspects were arrested by officials of National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) in Abuja, the Nigerian capital while the last culprit was nabbed in Imo State.
The mother of the sold baby, a teenager, hails from Owerri in Imo State.
Two of the suspects – Bernadette Ihezuo and Cecilia Onyema – are civil servants with the Federal Ministry of Finance Abuja and Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development respectively.
A third suspect, Okasi Ekeoma, is said to be Onyema’s sister, while the fourth suspect is the baby’s grandmother Harrieth Nmezi. They were paraded on Thursday in Abuja.
The police said that Nmezi’s 16-year-old daughter got pregnant in Imo and was driven to Onyema, her sister’s house where she lived until she had her baby.
Upon delivery, the other women completed the buying and selling of the child.
Reports say the baby has been rescued while the suspects have confessed to the crime.
Meanwhile, in Kwara State, Nigeria. officials of country’s Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) have arrested a woman and an alleged accomplice in connection with the trafficking of a 15-year-old girl.
The woman simply identified as Madam Hauwa, and Bala Suleiman had allegedly brought the teenager to Nigeria from Togo.
Two non-government organisations, Women Environment and Youth Development Initiatives (WOYODEV) and Child Protection Network (CPN-Kwara) brought the case to the attention of the civil defence corps in the state.