It was my husband and the devil who lured me into stealing and selling of babies

Policemen from Ilemba Hausa division in Lagos State have arrested a couple and two others  who allegedly specialized in abducting children between ages one and four years and selling them to barren women and motherless homes in the eastern part of the country.

So far, about seven children reportedly stolen from their parents’ homes in Lagos and other parts of the country have been recovered from their new homes in Imo, Anambra and Delta states.

One of the stolen children,  Ezeaka Uchenna  (4) was picked from his parents’ home, Madu Street, Jakande Ojo, Ajagbadi area of Lagos by one of the suspects, Adaeze Mba, on March 18, 2013 .

Adaeze   who  packed into same compound with the Ezeakas in January 2013, was said to have  gone to purchase tapioca from Uchenna’s mother that fateful day, only to abscond with the child. The couple immediately moved out of the area and allegedly sold the child to a couple in Obosi, Anambra State for N600,000.

However, during investigation, spokesman for the Lagos State Police Command, Ngozi Braide, while parading the suspects, yesterday, at the Command’s headquarters, Ikeja, said the policemen acting on a tip-off stormed Ikot Ekpene in Akwa Ibom State where the couple were arrested.

“They confessed to have sold the child to one Mrs Benedict at Asaba, Delta State. We proceeded to Asaba where Mrs Benedict was arrested. She made a confessional statement that she buys and sells children to barren women and that she had sold Uchenna to one Mrs Patricia at Obosi in Anambra State.

“Investigation revealed that the couple had earlier stolen Goodluck Amaechi (3) and  Promise Amaechi of same parents in Imo State and sold to Mrs Benedict. Mrs Bendict confirmed their statements and we proceeded to Obosi where the children were recovered from one Church of Goodness Motherless Babies Home.”

Adaeze blames devil

Pregnant Adaeze who hails from Mbatolu Local Government Area of Imo State blamed her indulgence on the devil and her husband, disclosing that they have been in the illicit act for five years.

“Please forgive me. I was talked into it by my husband. He asked me to get a child for him that he would pay me N400,000. When I asked what he wanted to do with the children, he assured me it was not for ritual purpose that his boss, Mrs Benedict takes them to motherless babies home.

Our Modus operandi

“Our targets are usually couples with more than three children. What we do is to move into an area, stay for about two to three months to get quainted with the people and immediately we got any child, we would leave the vicinity for another area where we are not known. We usually rent  single room apartments without furnishing them.”

Corroborating her claim, her husband, Mba, said he ventured into the act when his sand dredging business was no longer lucrative.

He said: “When I complained to a friend, he introduced me to Mrs Benedict and since I met her, my life never remained the same.”

He said a male child was more expensive than female, disclosing that Madam Benedict paid him her as much as N600,000 for a male child and four N400,000 for female. But for each child brought by his wife, he said he used to make N200,000 gain.

“What we do is immediately we succeed in stealing a child, we send him/her to my boss who in turn sell to motherless babies home and to barren women. I was responsible for my landlord’s missing children. I sold them for N400,000 each in Mbatolu, Imo State.”

Vanguard