• Woman cries out as police bust
syndicate in Onitsha
A 20-year-old woman from Ebonyi State
is accusing her husband of conniving with a medical doctor to sell off her
one-day-old baby. Charity Nwuzo went to a hospital (names withheld by us)
to seek medical care like other normal pregnant women, but little did she know
that she was in the den of baby sellers. She was delivered of a baby boy, but
she never came out of the hospital with her new bundle of joy.
The story of Charity was a very
pathetic one. Mrs. Ngozi Ibeneme, a neighbour to the victim, said Charity
endured unbearable pains before and while giving birth to the baby. Charity
claimed she gave birth to a bouncing baby boy in the said hospital only for her
to wake up and discover, to her chagrin, that her new baby was nowhere to be
found.
She subsequently raised the alarm,
which attracted passers-by to the hospital. The incident was thereafter
reported at the police station. Daily Sun gathered that young Charity got
pregnant for her boyfriend who absconded to an unknown place afterwards.
She later intimated her boss, one Emma
(surname withheld) who she was working for as a salesgirl at Nkpor, of the
development. He allegedly offered to marry her and assist her in her condition.
It was Emma, Charity’s former employer,
now husband, that allegedly took the young woman to the hospital located at
Owerri-Ebo Street, in the commercial city of Onitsha where Charity registered
for antenatal care.
However, the unexpected happened after
the young expectant mother allegedly gave birth to a bouncing baby boy. Instead
of savouring the joy of motherhood, especially since her baby would no longer
be called a bastard, Charity’s employer turned husband allegedly conspired with
the medical director of the hospital to sell the one-day-old baby.
Narrating her ordeal, the victim
disclosed that an ultra-sound test conducted on her by the doctor detected that
she had a baby boy, which she said increased the joy of her supposed husband
who later got the child sold off. “When the doctor conducted an ultra-sound
test on me which detected that I was bearing a baby boy, he told my husband.
And my husband was very happy.
He even increased the love and care he
had for me. I thought I had finally arrived and that at least my baby will no
longer be called a bastard since somebody had agreed to be his father. “Then,
one day, I was in a ward in the hospital when a woman dressed in Nigerian
Immigration uniform entered and met the doctor. I saw them together, and I
overheard them discussing something like buying or selling a baby boy for the
sum of N600, 000.
Later in the evening of that same day,
I was invited into the theatre where I was held and forced down by the wife of
the doctor, my husband, and some other people that I could not identify. Then
the doctor injected me and I fell asleep immediately. After that, I was
operated upon.
“My unborn baby boy of seven months and
three weeks old was removed and sold to the immigration officer. When I
recovered and requested to see my baby, I was given N100, 000.
But I didn’t collect the money. I
rejected it and insisted on having my baby because if I should go home without
my baby, my people who were already aware of my pregnancy would reject me. When
they realized that I was adamant and still refused to collect the N100, 000,
they pushed me out of the hospital with the caesarean wire still in my stomach.
They also seized my handset to stop me from communicating with people.
“It was one Miss Chika Ejiofor who took
me to her house, and later introduced me to a lawyer, Mr. Akonanya who offered
to give me free legal services.” Meanwhile, policemen attached to “D”
Department of the State CID, Awka, swooped into action and arrested the said
medical director, his wife and the supposed husband of the victim.
According to a police source who
pleaded anonymity, the doctor was arrested together with his wife, and five
other members of the syndicate. One of those arrested was a teacher at the
Central Primary School, Umuoji in Idemili Local Government area. They were
accused of taking part in the criminal buying and selling of newly born babies.
The suspects, who are currently helping
the police in their investigation, are accused of belonging to a very powerful
syndicate that specializes in stealing babies and harbouring young pregnant
teenagers to procreate for the purpose of selling their babies to wealthy
individuals.
They were also accused of housing
prostitutes, impregnating them for the purpose of rearing babies for sale,
organizing maternity services for pregnant women and selling newly born babies
without the approval of the mothers, among other accusations levelled against
them.
The medical doctor, who was described
as the leader of the syndicate, was also accused of running a maternity home at
Amaorji village, Umuoji in Idemili Local Government area of Anambra State where
he allegedly employed many staffers that assisted him in transacting the
illicit business.
The police source further revealed that
the arrest of the medical doctor and the smashing of the dangerous baby
stealing syndicate were made possible following a petition to the Anambra State
Police Commissioner, Mr. Ballah Nasarawa dated September 17.
The petition was written by Mr. Afam
Akonanya of the Obochie Chambers, Awka. He’s also the counsel to Charity Nwuzo.
Akonanya, in the petition, had alleged that the medical doctor and his group
were committing pathetic, awful and untoward criminal acts, including the sale
of a newly delivered baby boy. He had urged the police authorities not to play
with the petition.
The lawyer said in the petition that to
placate his client, the suspects must return the exact baby boy that Charity
delivered in the hospital. “The act is barbaric and unless these issues are
treated based on its merit, we shall explore legal means to get justice,”
Akonanya had noted in the petition. When contacted, the Police Public Relations
Officer, Mr. Ralph Uzoigwe, confirmed the arrests. He said, however, that he
was yet to receive full details of the incident.
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