Shortly after the baby was delivered, the arrangements for the newborn’s sale were completed on the hospital grounds. The Lagos State Police Command has detained a doctor, a traditional birth attendant, and the parents of a newborn due to the alleged sale of the child.
The 28-year-old mother and her boyfriend reportedly planned to sell the infant for N2.5 million, but the buyer only gave them N700,000. The covert arrangement was revealed as a result of this payment dispute. According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the parents allegedly made the decision not to keep the child and looked for people who could help sell it once it was born.
According to reports, middlemen connected the couple with a potential buyer in Ikorodu, Lagos State.
Initially, the expectant mother was delivered by a conventional birth attendant.But due to labor issues, she had to be transferred to a private hospital in Ikorodu, where the main suspect, a physician, successfully performed a Caesarean section that saved the mother’s and the child’s lives.
Shortly after delivery, the newborn’s sale was finalized on hospital property, and it was given to an anonymous bidder for N2.5 million.
But the buyer is still out there.
The matter was transferred from Area E Command Festact to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) for additional investigation, under the directive of Lagos State Police Commissioner Fatai Tijani.
Under the direction of Dayo Akinbisehin, the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of the department, the Anti-Human Trafficking/Gender Unit of the SCID is investigating claims of conspiracy, child theft, and trafficking.
According to a police source who spoke with NAN, attempts to track down the buyer failed since the address and phone number provided were found to be fraudulent.
“It came out that the information provided by the individual who removed the kid was untrue. The phone number was wrong, and the address could not be located.
“The agreement was first approved by the baby’s mother. But after she allegedly only received N700,000 of the agreed-upon N2.5 million payment, the agreement fell through.
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The woman’s concerns about the outstanding balance brought attention to the issue. An investigation was started after a few non-governmental organizations got engaged and informed the police about the situation, according to the source.
The source claims that the baby’s parents, the 31-year-old doctor, and the traditional birth attendant are presently being held and will face charges in court after the investigations are over.
According to the police source, efforts were still being made to capture the buyer and save the infant.
(NAN)
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