A 29-year-old woman from Amasiri,
Ebonyi State, Miss Chidimma Okorie, yesterday, stunned people at the
headquarters of the Anambra State Police Command in Awka, when she admitted
that she had already sold her unborn child for N100,000. The mother of five,
who said she had never been married, also admitted stealing two three years old
boys at Umuoji in Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra State, with
the connivance of two medical doctors operating private hospitals in the area.
The two medical doctors, Emmanuel Tobechukwu and Cosmos Ugorji, who the police
described as accomplices in child trafficking, were also helping the police in
their investigations. Chidimma said she had sold two children since she was
introduced into the “business” by a woman she identified as an Evangelist.
According to her: “I sold the two children for N50,000 each. I am pregnant and
the madam (Evangelist) said when I deliver my baby, she would buy it for
N100,000. I have five children, but I am not married. I have not sold any of my
children, but I have sold two children, starting with the child of a pastor
last month.” She said the two medical doctors were helping her in the
trafficking because they had a ready market through a nurse, still at large.
She alleged that the Evangelist brought her along with two other girls from
Ebonyi State to Anambra State and took them to a shrine in Asaba where,
according to her, she collected their blood samples for a ritual so that they
would not reveal to anybody the type of business they were into.
We just did
blood tests—DOCTORS
Dr Ugorji, however, insisted that he had neither seen her
before, nor done any transaction with her. He said one nurse, now at large, was
coming to his hospital, located at Awada, Obosi, near Onitsha, for blood tests,
adding that he was surprised police stormed his hospital and started talking
about child trafficking. On his part, Dr Tobechukwu, who said his hospital was
at Nkpor, near Onitsha, admitted that a woman brought Chidimma to his hospital
for blood test. He said: “This woman (Chidimma) has a medical condition, which
I would not want to discuss here. She was brought by one woman, who said she
was a nurse. I did not document their addresses because we did not do any
treatment. What we did was blood test and they left.” The doctor, who said he
was from Enugu State, said he had nothing to do with child trafficking. Anambra
Police Command Public Relations Officer, Mrs. Nkeiru Nwode, said the suspects
were arrested on Wednesday, after a tip-off. She said Chidimma had come to
Idoma village and stolen the boys, but luck ran out on her as people raised
alarm and she was apprehended. The PPRO said before the latest incident,
Chidimma had stolen a child belonging to a pastor in the area. Nwode said the
doctors were accomplices, who were linking the traffickers to ready markets.
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