The Abia State Police Command has paraded a 35-year-old man identified as Nkemakolam Ugorji, and his wife, Happiness, who reportedly sold their 2-day-old baby.
According to the couple, the economic hardship made them sell their two-day-old baby girl in Isiala Ngwa, Abia State, as they further disclosed that they had been married for 7 years and already had 4 children. The couple went on to tell newsmen that they couldn’t afford to take care of a 5th baby, and therefore decided to give her away to foster parents.
Happiness disclosed that it was the nurse that delivered her of the baby, that connected them to the lady who helped them to sell the baby for the sum of N300,000
“My husband and I decided to sell our baby because of hardship. We have four children and my husband is not working. .
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When I was pregnant, there was no money for me to go for antenatal and feeding was even a problem for us. That was why we decided to sell our baby” she said.
Punch reported that Ugorji, who claimed to be an orphan, said since he relocated from Port Harcourt to his village, he had been jobless.
He added that he agreed with his wife to sell their daughter to raise money for his family.
He said, “I was riding a tricycle on hire/purchase in Port Harcourt, but when I could not meet up with the payment, the owner collected it from me. So, we relocated to my village in Isiala Ngwa and since then, I have not got any other job and I have nobody to help us because I am an orphan.
“It was my village people who informed the police that I sold my baby because I couldn’t give them a proper account of my baby when they discovered that my wife was not pregnant again.”
The couple’s accomplice identified as Nma, who is also known for child trafficking in the state denied benefiting anything from the money given to the couple, as she added that the couple had approached her to help them contact a foster parent who can take care of their daughter.
