Ebonyi Family Accuses Police of Selling Grandchild for ₦25M, Demands Baby’s Return

The family of Nwanneka Nweze from Umuobuna Etiti Uburu in Ebonyi State, has refuted claims that their grandchild was being given out for adoption. Instead, they allege that police officers sold the baby for N25 million and gave the mother, Nwanneka, N700,000 to disappear so that the family would not find her.

Alleged Official Pressure to Conceal the Truth

The family has raised concerns about alleged pressure on Nwanneka to alter her statement, potentially obstructing an ongoing investigation and shielding those involved in the alleged baby trafficking from accountability. 

Recently, the family, through Philip Obasi Nweze, elder brother of Nwanneka, accused officials of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) in Abakaliki, the capital of Ebonyi State, of conniving with the officials of the Ebonyi State Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development to ensure that the stolen child was not rescued.

On July 1, SaharaReporters reported that the family filed a petition against four officers of the Nigeria Police Force and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in the state, over an alleged conspiracy, abduction, child trafficking, unlawful arrest, and compounding felony.

In the petition, the family accused SP Loveth Uche, officer in charge of the Juvenile and Women Centre (JWC), Ebonyi State Police Command, of conspiring with two Inspectors under her command to sell a baby boy born to Nwanneka for N25 million.

They claimed that Nwanneka was abducted and taken to a police clinic where she gave birth to the baby boy. The family alleged that Uche and other officials sold the baby without their consent.

Following a series of reports by SaharaReporters, the NSCDC was compelled to transfer the matter to NAPTIP, citing that it is a government agency empowered by law to investigate and prosecute the case.

However, there are allegations that officials from the Ebonyi State Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, along with the Commissioner for Information, are pressuring the baby’s mother to deny selling the child in a bid to protect the police officers implicated in the case.

Ministry Denies Sale 

Meanwhile, the Ebonyi State Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Mr Ikeuwa Omebeh, said the allegation of the sale of the baby was unfounded. However, he could not state who was in custody of the baby.

He said, “We understood that the mother of the said baby gave up the boy for custody and possible adoption, since, according to her, she was not financially and emotionally stable to keep the baby.

“The ministry is currently handling the matter based on extant law, and investigation is ongoing to ascertain the genuineness and circumstances surrounding the baby’s birth, paternity and other incidents thereof.”

 “No baby was sold. So, any story about ₦25 million, I don’t know,” Nwankpuma said.

Speaking with SaharaReporters on Wednesday, on the new twist, Phillip Nweze, who spoke on behalf of the family, asked the Commissioner of Women Affairs and Social Development to produce the baby boy, maintaining that their daughter wouldn’t have given out her child for adoption without their consent.

Mr. Nweze disclosed that he has been solely responsible for raising his sister’s two children, who have lived with him for several years without any support from her. He questioned how those same children could now be cited as the reason she allegedly gave the newborn up for adoption.

Unanswered Questions Over N700,000 Payment

He also pointed out that the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Women Affairs had previously denied, in a letter to the NSCDC during its investigation, that the ministry had any knowledge of the baby’s whereabouts. Nweze questioned how, despite that denial, the baby later ended up in the ministry’s custody without being reunited with the family.

“They have started running helter-skelter. The Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development said Nwanneka gave up the child for custody and possible adoption. When did the government start giving somebody N700,000 if the person wants to give her child up for adoption? Who gave her the N700,000? Is she now not indicting herself and her office? How did the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development now give her N700,000 when she was abducted with her pregnancy and hidden in a police clinic for three months and two weeks without the family’s knowledge?

“We only got to know when she delivered and was pushed out after the child had been taken away from her. Why did the police who sold her baby ask her to go far away from Abakaliki so that her family members would not see her? Where is the child now if the commissioner said the baby is in her custody?”

Mr. Nweze expressed regret that despite sending multiple messages to the Commissioner and copying his petitions to her office, she has not deemed it necessary to invite him for a discussion.

“A girl who has a family; they collected the child from her and sold it, not by her willingness, or wanting the child to be in custody for possible adoption. They have induced every fear in her, abducting her and keeping her in one place for three months, two weeks,” he alleged.

Credit: SaharaReporters