The Akwa Ibom State Police Command has arrested a grandmother, simply identified as Ekaette Obot, for allegedly selling her granddaughter for N200, 000.
Obot claimed she sold the child in order to free the mother, Blessing Okon, 18, from ‘burden of motherhood.’
The state Commissioner of Police, Adeyemi Ogunjemilusi, said the suspect, who is also pregnant, told the police that as soon as she was delivered of the baby, she would sell the child.
He said, “This is the mother to this lady. As soon as her daughter gave birth she sold the child for N200, 000. She is pregnant and she is saying that as soon as she puts to bed, she is going to sell her own baby also.”
Obbot, who claimed to be 27 years, told newsmen shortly after being paraded alongside 275 other suspects at the command headquarters in Ikot-Akpanabia area of Uyo that she did menial jobs by weeding for people to earn a living.
”I sold my granddaughter because I do not want her mother (Blessing) to suffer too much. The burden of raising a child would be too much for her,” she said.
Ogunjmilusi further revealed that the police also arrested 275 other suspects for various offences, which included murder, armed robbery, kidnapping, rape and cultism.
He said most of the suspects had been charged to court, while others were being investigated, adding that the police had prosecuted 193 cases and secured 23 convictions.
According to him, 19 locally-made pistols, one pump action gun and one AK 47 rifle, one Toyota Camry saloon car with registration number , Cross River, CAL 584 NF, one Toyota Corolla vehicle and a total of 52 ammunition had been recovered from the hoodlums.
He said the police had also rescued one Mrs. Comfort Joshua from kidnappers in Etim Ekpo Local Government Area, adding that two of her abductors were killed during an exchange of gunfire with the police.
He said that a 21-year-old man, Michael Charlie, who was found in police uniform, had also been apprehended.
