A 40-year old man, Peter Chukwuka, has been arrested by men of Oyo State Police Command for cunningly harvesting his day-old granddaughter in Oyo State, and took her on a journey of more than 500 kilometres to Abia State, where he sold her for N700,000.
The suspect said he used the money to rent a shop in Oyo town of Oyo State, and also used part of the money to stock the shop with goods, so that he would no longer be engaged in the hard work of digging foundation for new building and septic tanks.
The Commissioner of Police in the state, Dr. Adebola Hamzat, had paraded Peter Chukwuka and his five suspected accomplices before journalists at Eleyele, Ibadan on Saturday, along with other 35 armed robbery, kidnapping, cultism, and financial fraud suspects.
According to the police boss in the state, “On 10th July, 2023, an actionable intelligence report was received by a team of Police Operatives attached to the Command Monitoring, Oyo State about the ‘’harvesting of a day-old baby girl’’ from her teenage mother identified as Sarah Chukwuka in Oyo town, and sale of the girl child to a criminal cartel that operates a baby factory in Abia State.
“Sequel to this credible intelligence report, the police operatives immediately swung into action and after a discreet investigation, the chief mastermind of the heinous crime, who identified himself as Peter Chukwuka was later arrested in his hideout at Ibafo area of Ogun State.
“Upon intelligence led interview, the suspect, who identified himself as the biological father of the teenage girl, who gave birth to the day-old baby girl, confessed to the crime and explained in detail how he surreptitiously took the baby from her mother (his biological daughter) as soon as she gave birth under the pretext of handing over the baby to someone who would take good care of her.
“The suspect further explained in details, how he moved the day old baby to Abia State, where he sold her to the owner of a baby factory, located at Obehi, Okwa West in Abia State at the rate of N700, 000 only.
“Investigation activity was extended to Abia State and in the process of a coordinated raid on the baby factory, a female suspect identified as Popoola Nwamaka Bunmi, 47, and four other accomplices, whose names are Chinwedu Peter, 25, (female); Chidinma Blessing, 25, (female); Chukwu Christopher, 49, (male); and Favour Ogadinma, 28, (female), were all apprehended in connection with the criminal activity.
“A bundle of new birth certificates and some equipments being used for baby deliveries were equally recovered from the factory. The suspects, as at the time of apprehension, were unable to give any satisfactory explanation about the parentage of the babies recovered from the factory. Investigation is ongoing, developments will be communicated accordingly, please.”
The grandfather, Peter Chukwuka, who sold his granddaughter for N700,000, told journalists that her won biological daughter, Sarah, got pregnant by mistake, and he also made a mistake by selling her daughter’s baby.
His words: “I am in the police net because of my daughter’s baby. My daughter got pregnant by mistake. She gave birth to the baby. But the situation of Nigeria has impoverished my family. I could not take care of the baby and my daughter too could not take care of the baby. This is why I took the baby to Abia State to sell. I sold her for N700,000. My wife is sick and she is aware of this. This is my first time of doing this.”
Asked about how he got connection to where he sold the baby, he responded: “My younger sister (Favour Chukwu), was working as a house girl to the woman that bought the baby. So, I got the connection through my sister. The baby does not have father.
“Now that I have been arrested, I know that I made a mistake. It is only God that will help me. Also, I want the government to help me because I did not do it intentionally. The money that I collected, I have used it to rent a shop, and I bought goods into the shop. I want to start selling something.”
The mother of the sold baby, Sarah Chukwu, also said: “I am 15 years old. I was pregnant. My mom said that I should remove it, and I said no, I would give birth to the baby. I gave birth to the baby on July 10, 2023. My daddy came on the second day, which was July 11th. He said he has one mommy that would help me train the baby, and that after two years, they would return the baby to me. So, I agreed because I planned to go back to school. I did not know that my daddy wanted to sell the baby. I am in primary six.”
Asked about the person that impregnated her, she said: “I know him. He lives in Shagam. He used to smoke. I met him when I went to Shagam with my friend. My daddy’s brother lives there with his family. My daddy knows the person that impregnated me. And I told my boyfriend when I was pregnant, he said he would accept it and take care of me.”
However, the younger sister of the prime suspect, Favour Chukwu, who connected her brother with the woman that bought the baby, also said: “It is true that I bought the baby for my madam. I work as house help for the woman. I was involved because my brother and my cousin said they could not take care of the baby. This is the first time I would do something like this.
“There is a couple that has been looking for baby for long. I bought the baby for the couple. The woman gave me the N700,000. My share from the money is N50,000. I gave the remaining N650,000 to my brother, Peter, who is the grandfather of the baby.”
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