Four women who conspired and sold a newborn baby in their custody for N1,500,000 have been arrested.
They were apprehended by officials of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP). Three of the women were arrested near Abuja, while the fourth suspect was apprehended in Owerri, the Imo State capital, where the baby’s teenage mother hails from.
Two of the women, Bernadette Ihezuo and Cecilia Onyema are civil servants with the Federal Ministry of Finance Abuja, and Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, respectively. A third suspect, Okasi Ekeoma, is said to be Onyema’s sister, while the fourth suspect is the baby’s grandmother Harrieth Nmezi.
All of them were paraded on Thursday in Abuja. Nmezi’s 16-year-old daughter got pregnant in Imo and was driven to Onyema’s house where she lived till she was delivered of the baby, reporters were told. Upon delivery, the other women completed the buying and selling of the child, it was learnt.
The baby is said to have been rescued, while the suspects have confessed to the crime, it was gathered.
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