Operatives of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons have arrested two women for selling and buying a day-old baby belonging to a mentally-ill woman in Lagos.
This was disclosed by the Lagos Commander of NAPTIP, Daniel Atokolo, while briefing journalists on Tuesday.
It was gathered that the family of the mentally-ill woman had approached the seller to help get a buyer for the baby.
Punch Metro learnt that upon the delivery of the baby, the family members sold it for N350,000.
It was learnt that the baby was the fifth to be sold by the family members.
Speaking with Punch correspondent, the woman who introduced the seller to the family (name withheld by NAPTIP), stated that she did so to help the family.
She said, “The family told me that they had a pregnant daughter, who is not mentally stable, and that they had no money to take care of her and the child; so, I was asked to get them someone, who could assist them and I invited the buyer (name also withheld by NAPTIP), who I know was capable of taking care of the baby.
“The family demanded N350,000, which was paid to them and the baby was handed over to the buyer. I didn’t collect money from the two parties; I just wanted to help the family to get someone, who would help them to take care of the child. This is my first time of doing this; I did not do it for monetary gain.”
However, the 45-year-old buyer (name withheld by NAPTIP), who stated that she had been married for over 10 years without a child, said she bought the baby to solve her problem.
She said, “I have been married for 10 years and I have tried different means, including spiritually and medically to conceive, but all to no avail and my marriage and home are breaking.
“After looking around and I did not know what to do, I told my friend, who introduced me to the family, about my predicament and that I wanted to adopt a child I could have as my own and train.
“After explaining things to her, she said she did not have any child that I could adopt, but she later called me that there was a family that had someone, who was pregnant, and that the family was not capable of taking care of the child and that was when she brought me in.
“She called me around November 2019 that the lady would give birth in January and I started preparing for the arrival of the baby. During that period, I took a treatment that made me look as if I was pregnant; so, I used that opportunity to take the child even though my husband was not aware of it because he was not around.”
