A 33-year-old woman, Olaide Adekunle, has sold her 18-month-old baby to settle a debt in Ogun State.
The mother, who is currently in police custody, allegedly sold the baby at the rate of N600,000 to a yet-to-be identified buyer.
The Ogun State police spokesman, Abimbola Oyeyemi, told newsmen on Monday that the woman was arrested following a complaint lodged at Sango police division by the woman’s husband, Nureni Rasaq.
The husband had told the police that his wife went to Lagos on March 15, 2023, with their baby girl Moridiat Rasaq; saying, however, that she returned home without the baby.
Mr Rasaq had added that his wife refused to talk to him on the whereabouts of the child, despite all efforts to make her talk.
Upon the report, Oyeyemi stated that the DPO of Sango division, CSP Dahiru Saleh, had detailed his men to arrest the said wife.
“On interrogation, the suspect confessed that she has sold the baby to someone in Lagos at the rate of N600,000,” Oyeyemi said.
Asked, Oyeyemi quoted the man as saying “she borrowed money from a microfinance bank, and when she was unable to pay back the money, the bank agents started dragging her and threatening to deal decisively with her.”
Consequently, she ran to Lagos to hawk sachet water.
In the course of selling sachet water, she had met a man who introduced her to a woman that eventually bought the child in Lagos.
Meanwhile, the acting Commissioner of Police, DCP Babakura Muhammed, has ordered the transfer of the suspect to the State CIID for further investigation and possible recovery of the baby.
