A
29-year-old man, Kanayo Awurum, from Ikeduru Imo State has been arrested by the Lagos State
Police Command for allegedly selling his two year old son for N450,000 in the Egbe,
Ikotun area of the state.
Kanayo, who worked as a painter allegedly
sold the two-year-old boy, identified as Samuel, to three middle-aged
women.
Kanayo, reportedly lied to his wife, Kelechi, that one
of the women was his relative in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, and the
boy was going to live with her.
It
was learnt that the police had apprehended the three women ─ Nkechi
Obi, Cecilia Nwatu and Gladys Nwobodo for allegedly buying the child.
Obi, Nwatu and Nwobodo
On
Thursday, April 2, 2015, the women, who were working with Kanayo’s
friend, identified only as Emmanuel, had visited the man and his wife to
purchase the boy.
It was gathered that Kanayo told
Emmanuel, who is still at large, that he had some financial
difficulties, and decided to sell his son for N450,000.
Kanayo revealed that said he was advised by Emmanuel to sell his child to the women.
He added that his plan was to stabilise his family with the money as his wife was pregnant with another child.
He said, “I met Kelechi in our secondary
school days in 2005. It was in 2010 that we started living together. In
December 2012, she gave birth to Samuel. We were then living in Owerri,
Imo State. I was working as a painter and also acted in movies. I was
an upcoming actor so I was not well paid.
“From 2014, I started to have financial
difficulties, and I wanted to come to Lagos to hustle. The idea to sell
my child came in March 2015 when I finally decided to travel to Lagos.
It was a friend, Emmanuel, who linked me to the women. I asked him to
lend some money to me and he said I should use what I had to get what I
wanted.
“I did not tell my wife that I wanted to
sell our child. I lied to her that one of the women who came was my
elder sister in Port Harcourt and our son was going to stay with her. My
wife did not like the idea, but I convinced her that it was for our
good.
“So, when we came to Lagos, we rented an
apartment on Oluwaseyi Street in the Egbe area of Lagos. I was paid
N450,000 for the boy. That was what I used to pay for the rent.”
Kelechi, 28, said that
it was when she pestered Kanayo to bring her child home for a visit and
the boy was not brought by the ‘relative’ that she suspected a foul
play.
Kanayo, Kelechi and Samuel
She said, “Samuel was two years and two
months old when Kanayo said he was taking him to stay with his sister in
Port Harcourt. In April, he went to Owerri for a painting work and
promised that his sister would bring Samuel on a visit.
“On the day he promised, no one showed
up. He also failed to come back to Lagos when he promised. I then told
our landlord and one of his friends in Lagos, called Coach. Then, they
agreed to trick my husband to come back home.
“When he arrived, they began to ask him
questions and he later confessed that the boy was not actually with his
relative. They went to report the matter at the Ikotun Police Division.
That was how he was arrested.”
After his arrest Kanayo was transferred to the State Special Anti-Robbery Squad.
Kanayo led the police to one of the suspected buyers, Obi, in Port Harcourt, where she was arrested.
The two other suspected buyers were later arrested in Enugu State where the baby was sold.
Samuel was recovered by the police last week Friday, and he had been reunited with Kelechi.
Nwatu, 42, the woman that bought the child for N650,000 said she planned to raise him as her child as her
biological son was disabled.
She said, “I am a mother of three. I
have two girls and one boy, but my boy is deformed. He is about 10 years
old. My husband did not know about it. I wanted a male child
desperately to bear the family name. My boy has the Down syndrome. He
could not talk.”
The Police Public Relations Officer, DSP
Kenneth Nwosu, confirmed the arrest and stated that investigations were
ongoing and efforts are being made to arrest the fleeing accomplice.
-Punch
-Punch
