Daily Trust Saturday writes on a debit-ridden mother, Olaide Adekunle, currently cooling off in Ogun Police Command for allegedly selling her 18-month-old baby for N600,000 to pay off a loan she obtained from a microfinance bank.
Many couples have fallen apart due to the problem of child bearing, thus making infertility and childlessness one of the major causes of divorce among Nigerian couples.
Experts put the prevalence of infertility in Nigeria at between 20 and 25 percent among married couples.
Many, however, found it surreal on Monday when the media was flooded with the report of Olaide Adekunle, a 33-year-old mother who allegedly sold her 18-month-old child to offset a loan.
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How she sold the baby
The Ogun Police Command Spokesman, Abimbola Oyeyemi, told newsmen in Abeokuta that the suspect was arrested following a report at Sango divisional headquarters by the woman’s husband, Nureni Rasaq.
Oyeyemi quoted the husband to have reported that his wife left home for Lagos in March with their baby girl, Moridiat Rasaq, but she returned home without the baby.
According to him, the husband stated further that all efforts to know what happened to the baby proved abortive as the woman was unable to give any reasonable account of the whereabouts of the baby.
The Police Spokesman said the DPO Sango division, Dahiru Saleh, immediately detailed his detectives to arrest the suspect.
Oyeyemi said during interrogation, the suspect confessed to have sold the baby for N600,000.
“When asked the reason for her action, she stated that she borrowed money from a microfinance bank, and when she was unable to pay back the money, the bank agents threatened to deal decisively with her. It was consequence upon this that she ran to Lagos and started hawking sachet water.
“It was while hawking that she met a man who introduced her to the woman that eventually bought the child in Lagos,” Oyeyemi said.
He said the acting Commissioner of Police, DCP Babakura Muhammed, had directed that the suspect be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department for further investigation and possible recovery of the baby.
The alleged buyer of the baby in Lagos is now at large.
I didn’t sell my child, says dejected mother
Having lost her mother as a toddler, dropped out of secondary school, met her father at the age of 21, Olaide’s trajectory in life is one bedevilled with vicissitudes at different times.
She looked frail and dejected, but from her voice, she was clearly not remorseful, perhaps because of her emphatic position that “I did not sell my child.”
The embattled mother spoke with our correspondent at Zone 2 division of the Ogun command at Oke Ilewo where she was held in custody.
Giving her background, she said “I hawk soft drinks and do all sorts of work that are available. I also learnt trade of readymade dresses but I couldn’t establish the business because I couldn’t afford the capital and I lost my mother at a tender age.
“I don’t know my mother. I was a toddler when she died. I was around 4 or 5 years. I was 21 years of age when I met my biological father and at the time, I had already had my first child.”
She said she had four children (one dead), with two ‘husbands’. The children include Mordiya “who was taken away from me.”
Olaide explained how she met one Mrs Grace, the alleged buyer, through a man called Damilare while she was hawking soft drinks in Lagos’ traffic.
“One day, while I was hawking with my child strapped on my back, I started crying. So, a man, who later introduced himself to me as Damilare, approached me and inquired what was going on with me and why I was running after buses in traffic with a toddler. He said it was dangerous. He called me for a discussion and I poured out my mind to him.
“He promised to help me by introducing me to a sister who helps the needy. So, we exchanged contacts. He later reached out to me to meet him at Igando General Hospital. There, we met his sister who was addressed as Mrs Grace. I was told she had worked at the hospital and people acknowledged her,” she said.
The suspect said she later met Mrs Grace and they became “close friends” as the woman always assisted her with money and helped in “taking care of my child while I hawked because of the dangers the child could be exposed to.”
“With that, I got closer to Mrs Grace, a light-complexioned tall woman. She started watching over the child while I hawked and I was so glad for the gesture because I became free and I hawked about tirelessly. When it was time for the child to be breastfed, she brought back the child,” she said.
Asked on how the alleged selling of child came about, the suspect explained that “One day, when I visited her to drop my child off as usual, she asked if I had an account number and I said yes, I have an account with Wema Bank but the details and ATM card were with my husband.
“She asked me to get the ATM card and I told her I will collect it from my husband at Ifo. She then informed me that she wants to assist me to establish a business, so that I wouldn’t need to hawk anymore. I was glad and left.
“The next day March 28, she gave me N5,000 to open another bank account and feed from that. I appreciated it and went to open account with Stanbic IBTC.”
Continuing, she said “On March 31, I met her with another woman at the hospital. Then she told me she wanted to establish me so that I can stop hawking. She transferred N300,000 to the Wema bank account as well as my Stanbic account in my presence. It was surprising because I did not know why I deserved such huge assistance.”
According to her, the woman offered to take the child away and buy her biscuits as she was crying. “I didn’t find it strange because I have left my child in her care. So, she took the child away,” Olaide said.
She said it was shocking as the woman disappeared into the thin air with the baby and could not be found.
“When it was time for her to return, she didn’t return. Even the other woman questioned why she has not returned.
“After a while, I left the hospital in search of her. I went to Underbridge where we normally meet but she wasn’t there. I waited till night, but I didn’t see her. I slept under the bridge awaiting her return but she didn’t.
“The next day, I continued to search for her but to no avail, then I called my husband and narrated my ordeal. He came to meet me at Sango and he advised that we report the case to the police. We did and that was how I landed in the police net,” the suspect said.
She confirmed owing a microfinance bank the sum of N150,000.
“I am owing N150,000. I didn’t sell my child. I left home to hustle for money to cater to my needs and my family. The money was transferred into the account with my husband. I didn’t sell my child. They should give me my child,” she said.
We’re on the trail of buyer – Police
When contacted, the Police Spokesman, Abimbola Oyeyemi, told Daily Trust Saturday that the command has intensified its investigation on the incident.
Oyeyemi said the command’s operatives are on the trail of the alleged buyer of the baby, but her whereabouts is still unknown.
“We are still investigating the matter. Our officers are on the trail of the buyer and they trailed her down to Lagos, but she is yet to be found. Be rest assured that the hand of the law will surely catch up with her,” Oyeyemi said.
