Ogun State Police Command, Nigeria has confirmed the arrest of a 23-year-old woman, Mary Olatayo, for allegedly selling her three-week-old baby boy for N600,000.
In a statement on Thursday, SP Abimbola Oyeyemi, the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), said the suspect was arrested following a complaint from the father of the baby.
Oyeyemi said: “The man said Mary got pregnant in the process and he rented an apartment for her where she lived till she delivered a baby boy. He explained further that the lady suddenly disappeared with the baby from the apartment three weeks after delivery, only for her to be found in a hotel where she went to ‘hook-up’ with another man.
“All efforts to know the baby’s whereabouts proved futile. On the strength of his complaint, the Divisional Police Officer, Mowe Division, SP Folake Afeniforo, detailed detectives to the scene where the suspect was arrested and brought to the station.
“On interrogation, Mary Olatayo, confessed to the police that she sold the baby to someone in Anambra State at the rate of N600,000. She confessed that it was her friend, Chioma Ogbonna, who led her to the buyer in Anambra State, and that they both shared the money equally.
“Her confession led to the arrest of Chioma Ogbonna, who also corroborated Mary’s claims. Further investigation revealed that Mary Olatayo, a native of Omu-Aran in Kwara State, is a call girl, who sees the baby as a disturbance to her business, hence she decided to do away with the baby.
“Fortunately for her, she has an accomplice in Chioma, a native of Imo State, who quickly contacted the buyer in state.”
Oyeyemi said the state Commissioner of Police, Lanre Bankole, had ordered the transfer of the suspects to Anti-Human Trafficking and Child Labour Unit of the state Criminal Investigation Departments for further investigation.