Pastor, wife,others accused of child
trafficking in Abia
By Anayo
Okoli
UMUAHIA—Abia State Police Command, Tuesday, paraded a 71-year-old man, said to be a retired pastor, for allegedly stealing a year-old baby.
The
suspect was arrested alongside his wife by the police, following an alarm said
to have been raised by the mother of the baby.
Abia State
Police Commissioner, Mr. Joshak Habila, who paraded the suspects, said the
arrests were part of the achievements of his command for the month of August.
He said a
month ago, a 21-year-old pregnant mother reported that she lost her 11 months
old baby to a supposed friend under the pretence of offering help to her.
The police
boss said luck, however, ran out on the supposed friend, when the anti- robbery
squad of the command intercepted him at Owerrinta and arrested him for
allegedly trafficking pregnant girls to Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital.
He said
the arrest led to the discovery of a child, who was previously stolen in Aba
and allegedly sold to the retired pastors’ wife, who was said to have kept the
deal away from her husband.
According
to Habila, the suspect sold the baby for N500,000 to the wife of a pastor who
allegedly lied to her husband that she went through the normal process of
adoption for the baby.
The wife
of the pastor, the commissioner explained, admitted to have paid for the baby
in the premises of Federal Medical Centre, FMC, in Umuahia, through her friend,
one Maria Mba, said to a senior civil servant in Bende Local Government Area.
But her
pastor husband denied knowledge of the illegal adoption of the baby, saying he
had been requesting from his wife the adoption documents which he claimed he
never saw till date.
The other
suspects, Maria Mba and Ekwutosi, also explained their role in the transaction,
with Ekwutosi saying he connected Maria to the illegal deal.
He claimed
that Mba approached him and requested for baby girl which he arranged for and
procured, after which he invited them to the FMC where the deal was finally
sealed.
Though Mba
said she collected the money and gave to Ekwutosi N400,000 and kept N100,000 as
part of her share of the deal, Ekwutosi denied receiving the money from her
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