The Ogun State Police Command says it has confirmed the arrest of a 23-year-old woman, identified as Mary Olatayo, for allegedly selling her three-week-old baby boy for N600,000.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, SP Abimbola Oyeyemi, in a statement on Thursday, said the suspect was arrested following a complaint from the father of the baby.
He 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,” he added.
Mary further disclosed during interrogation 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 the state.”
Oyeyemi said the state Commissioner of Police, Lanre Bankole, had ordered the transfer of the suspects to the Anti-Human Trafficking and Child Labour Unit of the state Criminal Investigation Departments for further investigation.
He stated that the CP also directed that everything possible must be done to recover the baby.
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