National Telescope national telescope newspaper
By Peter Chuks, Asaba
DELTA: The Delta State Police Command has arrested three women over an alleged baby trafficking deal, exposing a growing network of illegal child sales in the state.
Police Public Relations Officer SP Edafe Bright, who confirmed the arrests, decried the increasing cases of baby factories and vowed that the command would clamp down on perpetrators.
“The business of baby factories is on the rise, and we are going to fight it head-on,” Edafe said. “Recently, we intercepted three women attempting to transport three babies to Abuja through Asaba International Airport. They were arrested. Today, we have another case involving a mother, the person who sold her child, and the buyer.”
According to the police, the biological mother, 25-year-old Rachael from Asaba, gave birth to a baby girl on January 27. Struggling financially, she handed the child over to a woman who allegedly sold the baby for ₦3.5 million. However, Rachael received only ₦600,000 from the transaction.
“When she returned to the people who cared for her during pregnancy, they noticed she no longer had the baby. When they confronted her, she confessed to selling the child,” Edafe said. “She was arrested, along with the suspected trafficker and the buyer.”
The police rescued the baby, who is barely two weeks old. Edafe expressed dismay over the deal, noting that the infant had not even been breastfed.
“When we asked the buyer what she planned to do, she said she would raise the child on baby formula. This is unacceptable,” he said.
During interrogation, Rachael explained that she had no financial support from the child’s father and struggled to cater for herself during pregnancy.
“I was doing menial jobs to survive. I told Mrs. Patrick, who introduced me to the buyer, that I needed help because I couldn’t take care of two children alone,” she said. “She gave me ₦600,000 but told me to ‘settle’ her, so I gave her ₦30,000.”
The alleged trafficker admitted to selling the baby but insisted she collected ₦3.5 million, contradicting the buyer’s claim of paying ₦4 million.
When asked why she gave the mother only ₦600,000, she said, “She wanted to do her business.”
The buyer, a 42-year-old married woman from Ika, claimed she was seeking a legal adoption but was misled by the seller.
“I told a woman in my area that I wanted to adopt a child legally. She introduced me to the seller, and I paid ₦4 million. After payment, she assured me that the documents were being processed and would be given to me later,” she said.
The police have vowed to prosecute the suspects and warned the public against engaging in illegal child transactions. Investigations are ongoing.
