A 40-year-old man simply identified as Monday Peter Chukwuka has been apprehended by the Oyo State Police Command for selling his grandchild for N700,000.
Chukwuka was said to have sold his one-day-old grandchild belonging to his teenage daughter to a criminal cartel that operates a baby factory in Abia State.
According to him, “So has she made a mistake by getting pregnant. As she has born the baby, with the situation in Nigeria, I can’t take care of him, and my daughter cannot take care of the baby, which is why I sold the baby.
“I sell the baby for N700,000. My wife is aware. This is my first time doing it. I got into the negotiation through my sister, who works as a housekeeper for the woman who bought the baby; that’s where I got the connection.
“I was born and brought up in Oyo before I went to Lagos and decided to come back to Oyo to do business. I use the 700,000 to rent a shop and buy some market so I can start selling things.”
The buyer of the baby, Favour Chukwu, said she just got into the business and has bought the baby for a couple who are in need of a child.
According to her, ” My name is Favour Chukwu; yes, I bought a baby; I sell herbs for a living. I sold the baby because they say they can’t take care of the baby.
When asked how long she has been in the business, Favour said, It’s just her first time venturing into the business.” “No, I’ve not been doing the business before. A couple have been looking for a baby for a long time, So that’s it. I bought the baby for the couple.
It’s the couple that bought the N700,000.
She said her share of the money out of the N700,000 is N50″ My share of the money is 50,000; I gave the remaining 650,000 to Peter. This is my first time doing it”.
The teenage mother, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said her mother opted for abortion when she found out she was pregnant. ” The time that I born the baby,I born him on July 10, and my dad came the second day on July 11.”
The primary six student said her father told her that they wanted to take care of the baby and would return it after two years.
Chukwuka is among the 40 suspects paraded by the State commissioner of police, Adebola Hamzat, at the police headquarters in Ibadan.
The Commissioner of Police, Adebola Hamzat, and the chief mastermind of the crime, who identified himself as Peter Monday Chukwuka, were arrested in their hideout in the Ibafo area of Ogun State.
He said the suspects would be charged in court upon completion of the investigation.
