Chiemelie Ezeobi
A 37-year-old man, one Kingsley Oriaku, has been arrested for selling off his one-year-old daughter to raise money for his mother in-law’s burial.
The suspect who is currently being detained at the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, Lagos Command, disclosed that he sold his daughter, Nkechi, for N190,000 to a fake orphanage home operator based in Abia State.
The suspect was arrested after he sold off his neighbour’s seven year old son to the same orphanage for N120,000.
In his confessional statement to the police, the suspect admitted selling off his daughter without the consent of his wife.
He said: “I know that what I did was not good, but then I was confuse and don’t know what to do.
“My wife is the first and only daughter and when her mother died sometime in September my in-laws gave me an outrageous bill.
“Confused and without knowing what to do, I took my daughter and handed her over to the owner of an orphanage.
“I got to know her through one of my friends. She told me that she runs and orphanage and that she buy children who do not have parents.
“I remembered her when I had problem of how to raise money for my in law’s burial.
“I later had problem with my wife when she found out that I left town with our child. She reported me to the police at Meiran. At the station, I admitted selling off our daughter. We later settled the matter between the two of us.
“Two days later, I tricked my neighbour’s son, Gabriel with sweat, into following me out one evening. Immediately we left our house at Meiran, I headed to the motor park where I boarded a mid-night vehicle to Abia.
” I called the owner of the orphanage before I left Lagos with my neighbours son. We had agreed that she would pay me N190,000 but surprisingly when I got to Umuahia, Abia state, she said she can only pay me N120,000 for the boy. “
The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Edgal Imohimi, who paraded the suspect before media men yesterday at the Command Headquarters, Ikeja, said it was a clear case of abduction and child theft.
He said a case of a missing child was reported at the station on Octorber 28, 2017 by one Olabisis Yanga.
He said based on the strength of the report the command commissioned an undercover team of policemen to investigate the matter.
Egdal explained that during the cause of investigation, the detectives tracked down the suspect to Ajali village in Orumba North Local Government Area of Anambra State from where he was arrested.
He said: “The suspect admitted selling his daughter to one lady whom he identified as Adora for N190,000. Adora later sold the same child for to the operators of a fake orphanage home in Abia state for N500,000.”
He said that a female member of the syndicate has been arrested for her alleged involvement in the illegal sale of children.
He said that the two suspects would soon be charged to court for abduction.
