Mother sells daughter's baby boy N250, 000

Onyinyechi

Operatives of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS), Lagos State Police Command, Ikeja, are hunting for a woman, Mrs Joy Osoneye, who allegedly sold her daughter’s baby boy for N250, 000.

According to the police, although the baby’s mother, Miss Onyinyechi Osoneye 22, is already in police custody, but attempts to arrest Onyinyechi’s mother, Osoneye have been futile.

Osoneye was alleged to have engineered the sale of the baby, after ensuring that her daughter’s pregnancy was concealed from her strict husband.

Onyinyechi was arrested on Wednesday by the operatives who have been investigating the case after receiving a tip-off. The tip-off indicated that one Mrs Nwata bought a baby boy from unauthorized source.

Nwata, was said to have pretended to her husband that she was pregnant. When Onyinyechi’s put to be bed, the baby was handed over to Nwata, who later presented him to her husband as theirs.

The police said: “Mrs. Nwata stayed away from her husband’s residence while searching for a baby to buy. She has been pretending to be pregnant each and every time she went to visit her husband. After the baby was bought, the couple, who has been desperately trying to have a baby, threw a huge party to celebrate the baby’s arrival. Onyinyechi, with the connivance of her mother, Mrs Joy Osoneye concealed the pregnancy from her father knowing his strict position towards having child out of wedlock.”

The police said that the man who impregnated Onyinyechi, had, on being informed of the pregnancy, denied being responsible.  Onyinyechi was admitted into a hospital at Ikota, Lekki – Ajah Expressway, where one Mrs. Ehinmi, 35 took delivery of the baby on March 1, 2017.

The police said: “When Onyinyechi was arrested, she said she didn’t sell her baby. After that, she burst into tears and refused to answer further questions. Onyinyechi, however, disclosed that Mrs Ehinmi took the baby from her at the point of delivery and gave him to Mrs Okocha, 45, her sister, who is the owner of a hospital at Orile. Okocha offered Onyinyechi’s mother N250,000.”

Okocha thereafter, contacted one Mrs Anyanwu, 59 who subsequently brought the buyer, Mrs Nwata.

Okocha confessed to investigators that she sold the baby for N850, 000 but gave Mrs Osoneye N250, 000.

While fielding questions from policemen, Ehinmi said she did Onyinyechi a favour, adding that she was the person that assisted in concealing the pregnancy bump. She said that she also enrolled Onyinyechi for antenatal and fed her till she put to bed.

“Efforts to arrest the man who impregnated Onyinyechi, her mother and father proved abortive as they are on the run. The baby has been handed over to the Lagos State Ministry of Women Affairs while five suspects have been transferred to Gender Office, State Headquarters, Ikeja for further investigations,” said the police.