Parents sell children for N4,000 in Makurdi

REPORTS have indicated that parents in Makurdi, the Benue State capital, were involved in the sale of their children to human traffickers at the sum of N4,000 or N5,000 per ward. This was revealed when the Quick Response Group Team of the Nigerian Army in Lokoja arrested one human trafficking suspect, Mr. Sunday Agbo, from Benue state. 

 Parading the suspect to newsmen on Friday at the Army Headquarters, the Commandant of Army Record, Major General Alphonso Chukwu said the suspect was arrested alongside 10 children, both male and female, on July 26 by his Quick Response Group Team, along Itobe-Ajaokuta road. 

 According to him, the suspect who hails from Obi Local Government Council of Benue State was arrested in a ash colour Toyota Camry car with the registration number CW 322 LSD with 10 children, comprising of six males and four females between the ages of seven and 19 heading to Lagos state. 

 He stated that when the suspect was confronted by his men, he said that the children belonged to him, but after further interrogation, he confessed that they were handed over to him by his agent, one Madam Janet Akpa, from the same village and that he was asked to deliver them to another agent in Lagos. 

The Army Commandant stressed that investigations revealed that Agbo had been trafficking children by discussing with the parents and offering a mere sum of N4,000 or N5,000 naira under the pretext of getting them jobs in Lagos as househelps.

 The Army Commandant who enjoined parents to be vigilant so as not to fall prey of the human traffickers, stressed that the children were most vulnerable to ritualists. One of the children, Blessing Jacob, who said she had just finished her promotional examination to SSS 2 said she was told to follow the suspect to Lagos for her holiday where she would work for a while. 

 While still waiting for further details, the suspect received a text message from the agent in Lagos that one of the children he earlier brought to Lagos had absconded from the house. While speaking with the suspect, he disclosed to Sunday Tribune that this was not his first time, adding that parents of the children were given a token amount of money ranging from N4000 to N5000 for each of the children.

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Three arrested for alleged baby trafficking

Three Bulgarian men were arrested Thursday suspected of attempting to traffic pregnant women to Greece in order to sell their babies, the interior ministry said.

The alleged 41-year-old mastermind of the gang and his two accomplices, aged 30 and 31, were detained in the Black Sea city of Burgas and will be charged with trafficking of human beings, it said in a statement.

The suspected gang leader had already been jailed for the same crime before.

The ministry did not say if any of the women were arrested or how many were involved.

Bulgarian police have uncovered several cases of baby trafficking to Greece, France and other countries in recent years.

In 2011 alone, prosecutors opened 138 cases into alleged human trafficking, including seven for trafficking of newborns. There were 29 cases of pregnant women illegally taken abroad to sell their babies, interior ministry data showed.

Under the usual scheme, the pregnant women agrees to recognise the foreign citizen who is to buy her baby as its father, thus avoiding lengthy international adoption procedures.

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Man Drugs Wife, Sells Baby For N350,000

A 26-year old man, Ibrahim Oladele who drugged his wife, Damilola Balogun after she delivered her baby boy and sold the baby to an Onitsha-based business woman, Umeokoli Rebecca for N350,000 has been arrested and arraigned.

Oladele, who hails from Ekiti state, was charged before an Ikeja magistrate’s court sitting in Ojokoro, Alagbado, Lagos State, southwest Nigeria with conspiracy and stealing.

He was charged along with two medical doctors, Dr. Okosun Timothy Olugbemi, 36, and Adesina Sultu, 33, the nurse that delivered the baby Mrs. Adetutu Abiola as well as Rebecca who bought the baby.

NEWSMEN gathered that Oladele, who lives at 19, Ilupeju Street, Alagbado, a suburb of Lagos, took his wife to a private hospital at Bariga where she was delivered of a baby boy after which the shady deal was sealed.

NEWSMEN learnt that after Damilola was successfully delivered of her baby, the doctors, with the consent of Oladele, alleged drugged the woman and she slept off. This afforded them the opportunity to steal and sell the baby.

Rebecca who resides in Onitsha, Anambra State and could not bear a child of her own was contacted to buy the baby for N350,000.

She was given the certificate of birth.

She took the baby to her base in Anambra State and not quite long that she was celebrating her success in getting a baby boy she was searching for years, that her joy turned to bitter experience. Damilola suspected a foul play days after she regained consciousness and the matter was reported to the police.

Rebecca was arrested in Anambra and brought to Lagos with the child. She is now facing a criminal charge of stealing the baby.

Oladele was also arrested and his confession led to the arrest of the accomplices.

The prosecutor, Mr. Thomas Nurudeen told the court that the suspects conspired and sold the baby which was later recovered in Anambra state. They pleaded not guilty.

The presiding magistrate, Mrs. A.F. Adeeyo granted them bail in the sum of N200,000 with two responsible sureties.

The matter has been adjourned till 4 May, 2012 for hearing.

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Why I Sold My Two Babies To Traffickers

The dark complexioned lady, Emem Godwin Etukudo,who is already cooling her feet in the police cell said that it was poverty that drove her into the illicit trade of giving birth and selling her babies.

According to her, after having her children, she had no money to cater for them, hence the option of selling them out, believing that those who have the money to buy them will be able to take care of them while she uses the proceeds for her up keep.

“I have nobody to help me and I am jobless, I don’t always want the children to suffer in my hands and the only option I believe is to give them to those who are looking for children and can take care of them,” she said.

Are this reasons good enough for her to sell her babies she carried inside her womb for nine months....Some women can be so wicked and foolish..

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Miracle birth woman: Three babies still missing

The striking story of Precious Donatus Ogbonna, the miracle birth woman is becoming very endless.

In a quick rehash, Precious Donatus Ogbonna, the General overseer of Christ Salvation Ministry, Owerri, claimed she had seven babies in one year, each within a space of one month.

A DNA has shown that Precious Ogbonna was not the biological mother of the babies. Where did she get the babies from? Investigations conducted and several homes where phantom deliveries take place were discovered including the places she claimed she had the babies.

Precious Ogbonna three babies missing?

Precious Ogbonna was arrested, taken into custody and charged to court for child trafficking and related offences. The miracle babies were kept in RedCross orphanage in Owerri. Sooner than later, one died, three were taken away from the home to an unknown place. She was released on bail and went for baby number eight.

Now, where are the babies who were said to have been taken away from RedCross Orphanage about three four months ago? Are they alive? How are they faring? The entire story is becoming unending as issues about the welfare of the babies are revibrating.

When newsmen visited the home, only three of the babies were found and the situation remained the same when we visited again recently to see if there was any new development. At the home which has four rows of about 15 baby cots had 10 babies between the age of 0-2years.

Staff of the home declined comment on the whereabout of other Precious Ogbonna’s babies. But an inside source claimed the Police took them away. Further investigations revealed that they were kept in another welfare home in Owerri.

Just few days ago, the acclaimed mother of the babies, Precious Ogbonna said the babies Conqueror, 19months; Chizitere, 18months; and Fineseed, 15 months; (females) have not been returned, leaving only Ekpereamaka, 16months; Flourish, 12months; and Ebenezer, 8months (males) in the home. She stressed that security reasons were cited by a police source just as she wonderd why they would have to be kept apart.

When contacted on phone, the ACP State CID, Owerri, Mr. Emmanuel Ojukwu also declined comment. When asked whether the babies are still in their custody, he said: “the case is in court and I can’t comment on it.” But where are the three babies? Why are they being kept apart and why are others still being kept at Redcross orphanange if truly those were the reasons?

How does the home raise funds and materials for the welfare and day-to-day upkeep of children in the home? Besides, a source maintained that the home relies on daily contribution and gifts from good spirited Nigerians for the upkeep of children adding that gifts and contributions no matter how little are being recorded immediately they acknowledge it. When SaturdayVanguard visited, only few individuals were seen bringing gifts to the home.

Counsel to Precious Ogbonna, Barrister N.B.E Nwigwe who is also the Chairman of Ethics and Disciplinary Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association, Owerri branch said: “I don’t want to go beyond my brief. I have not gone to the home to see the babies and she has not told me that three of them are missing. I can’t comment on that.” He noted that he cannot seek for the release of the babies until “they formally arraign her and we quash the case; it will appear premature to ask for the release of the babies now,” he stressed.

However, a source who preferred anonymity disclosed to newsmen that the babies lack proper care adding that the home did not have enough resources but only rely on gifts by individuals.

“They are not receiving adequate care. How much funds are they getting? They are doing their” said a source. The source further observed that the environment is a problem because there are lots of mosquitoes there. “Recently, two of the three kids there had cold and it is a regular thing which is not good for the babies,” the source said.

Asked whether a formal complaint was lodged on this issue, our source said “the Matron was not available as at the time of the visit but maintained that the police will have to present the babies to the court when the time is right.”

The case will be heard again on December 13 at Owerri Court 1.

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A PREGNANT WOMAN ARRESTED IN ATTEMPT TO SELL 3YR OLD GIRL FOR N900,000

Police Foil Attempt For allegedly kidnapping and attempting to sell a three-year old girl for N900,000, a pregnant woman has been arrested by the police in Lagos, Southwest Nigeria.

The suspect, simply identified as Lilian, was arrested last night in a popular hotel in Palmgrove, Lagos, while trying to collect a balance of N500,000 from a disguised buyer.

Police sources said that an advance payment of N400,000 had already been made into her account by the ‘buyer.’

The suspect who is being detained at Pedro Police Station in Bariga allegedly kidnapped the girl in Owerri, Imo State, southeast Nigeria, about a month ago and brought her to Lagos to sell her.

Sources said that the police got hint of the matter when a woman lodged a complaint at the station, claiming that her sister’s daughter had been kidnapped in Owerri.

Policemen in Owerri then gave the police in Lagos the telephone number of Lilian who had previously been investigated for a similar offence.

The telephone number was then passed to the woman in Lagos. It was learnt that the woman in Lagos disguised as a buyer and agreed to buy the girl for N900,000.

She then made an advance payment of N500,000 into Lilian’s account and was to pay a balance of N400,000 last night for the delivery.

It was when the suspect was trying to collect the balance last night that she was arrested by the police.

However, the girl recovered was not the girl missing in Owerri although both were of the same age.

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Government Retrieve 104 Nigerian S*x Slaves From Mali

Nigeria has evacuated from Mali 104 of its citizens, mostly women, either made to work as “s*xual slaves” or suspected of involvement in human trafficking, officials said on Tuesday.

The National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic in Persons (NAPTIP) evacuated 93 alleged victims of human trafficking, nine suspected traffickers and two babies, the agency’s head, Beatrice Jedy-Agba, told reporters.

The babies, aged between six months and a year, were born in Mali, she added.

Jedy-Agba said they were brought back home on Saturday after investigations by the agency showed that “Nigerian girls are sold for about two million naira ($12,600, 9,200 euros) each and made to work as s8xual slaves.”

The investigations started in September last year, she said.

Many brothels in the capital Bamako and the cities of Mopti (centre), Kayes (west), Sikasso (south) and Gao (northeast) were populated by mostly Nigerian girls, victims of human trafficking, aged between 14 and 17 years, Jedy-Agba explained.

NAPTIP found out that thousands of Nigerian citizens have been deceived and transported to the francophone west African nation on the pretext that they would be taken to Europe.

“Some of them in their hundreds are deported from Algeria and Morocco back to Mali after failed attempts to cross to Europe,” she stated.

The agency has started the process of their rehabilitation and reintegration into the society for the victims, while the suspected traffickers would be prosecuted after their interrogation.

One of the suspected traffickers is a man, she said.

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Booming babies business: Paying off pregnant teenagers after delivery

IFEATU (not real name), 16, and in senior secondary school 2, suddenly discovered that she was pregnant for her trader boyfriend, Obinna.

When she informed Obinna of the development, he warned her not to associate him with such a thing because he had just been released by his master after six of years apprenticeship and was just settling down to nurture his own business and therefore did not want any distraction.

Afraid of telling her parents of her predicament, Ifeatu confided in her school mate who agreed to take her somewhere her problem could be solved.

Both went to a private hospital in Onitsha and it was there that Ifeatu was directed to a woman who ran an orphanage home in the town who told her that she had to reside in the home until her delivery and that she would be attending ante-natal clinic at the same hospital that directed her to the orphanage.

That was how Ifeatu went back home, packed her things and moved into the orphanage without informing her parents. It was the owner of the home that later informed the parents of Ifeatu where their daughter was and why she ran away from home.

The experience of Ifeatu is becoming a common phenomenon in many cities like Onitsha, Aba , Owerri and other places where there exist the compassionate homes. Investigations have shown that the business has continued to boom because some proprietors of the homes have turned them into places to lure pregnant girls and paying them off after delivery. Usually, papers are signed on the arrival of the girls that they would not be given their babies after delivery as they would be compensated for their labour.

Indeed, the girls are well fed and taken good care of during their stay in the homes. Sometimes, the doctor that is in liaison with the homes attends to the girls instead of the girls going to hospital for ante nantal to avoid the prying eyes of the public.



After delivery, the girls are paid money ranging from N40,000 – N70,000 for male child and N20,000 – N30,000 for the female. Whatever happens to the child thereafter is not their business. It was discovered that because of the money, some of the girls have turned it into business as they return to the homes on their own after few months of delivery with new pregnancies.

The selling of the babies to childless couples appears to be the main attraction and that is where misunderstanding occurs sometimes. For instance, an orphanage operator in whose facility in Ihiala was allegedly found harbouring about 30 pregnant girls, said there was no way she could be doing the business of such magnitude without the knowledge of the Anambra State Ministry of Women Affairs. She alleged, for instance, that a 15- month old baby from the home was taken away by some officials of the ministry, adding that the whereabouts of the baby were still shrouded in secrecy.

Mr. Emeka Ejide, director of child development in the state ministry of women affairs, however, confirmed that the baby was undergoing fostering process and that documents on the baby and pictures of those that brought him were intact. According to him, it was never a business deal between the ministry and the orphanage operator as being alleged.

Ejide said it was diversionary for the operator to talk about a baby undergoing a fostering process, adding that the reason her home was raided was because she was engaged in activities that were against the purpose of establishing it.

According to him, there are 17 approved compassionate homes in the state and that any of them stood the risk of being closed down if it failed to abide by the terms of its establishment. “Some homes may be legal today and illegal tomorrow depending on their activities,” he said.

Mrs. Ego Uzoezie, the Anambra State commissioner for women affairs and social development, who also spoke on the issue, said her ministry has zero tolerance for child exploitation and abuse and noted that although unprecedented challenges were encountered in trying to protect the rights of children, their welfare can never be compromised.

A staff of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons and other Related Matters (NAPTIP), Mrs. Ijeoma Okoronkwo, whose agency is collaborating with the police and other organizations on the issue of child abuse and trafficking, insisted that they would continue to close down illegal orphanages and those that violate the rules governing adoption of children.

Also, the Police Public Relations Officer in Anambra State, Mr. Emeka Chukwuemeka, said the command would continue to investigate the activities of homes that hide pregnant girls and pay them off after delivery of their babies.

He said a decision would be taken after investigations on whether the girls in the homes should be handed over to their parents, decrying what he called the bizarre attitude of turning motherless babies’ homes into centers for the sale of babies. He also warned men to desist from deceiving girls by putting them into situations that undermine their future.

But the proprietor of the home, where the 30 girls were allegedly found, insisted that the inmates were brought to her Foundation with the consent of their parents and guardians, even as she denied the allegation that she was also performing abortion in the home.

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