A notorious syndicate that allegedly specialises in the theft and sale of newborn babies have been apprehended by operatives attached to the Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) Zone 2, Onikan, Lagos State.
Eight suspects identified as Rita Ibezim, Sunday Ochim, Sunday Okputu, Faith Sunday, Chinaza Echelibe, Ngozi Ifekwuna, Helen Nwakuba and Bada Adeniyi were arrested in different areas of Lagos.
The police team led by CSP Ngozi Braide also rescued five children between ages one and six with most of them sold to those they considered their parents when they were one-week-old.
The rescued kids were identified as one-year-old Marvelous Obi, three-year-old Promise Ifekwuna, one-year-old Somtochukwu Onyemaechi, three-year-old Chibuzornma Onyemaechi and six-year-old Praise Ibezim.
According to the investigating team, two of the children were rescued in Imo State in the custody of a caregiver employed by one of the buyers who lives abroad.
Giving details at a press conference held at the weekend, AIG Adegoke Fayoade said the breakthrough followed an intelligence report received on January 8 about the activities of a notorious child trafficking syndicate.
Fayoade who was represented by Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Ajao Adewale, said the intelligence revealed that the syndicate specializes in buying and selling newborn babies, toddlers, as well as children of various ages.
Fayoade said Rita Ibezim served as a supplier and middle woman; Sunday Okputu was a supplier of children and usually kidnapped infants from hospitals, churches and other places, and Chinasa Echelibe was a caregiver employed by the syndicate who nurtured these infants before their delivery to prospective and final buyers.
“The team led by CSP Ngozi Braide had so far recovered a total of five beautiful children who were bought and trafficked at one time or the other. These children’s real identities had been messed up by these wicked traffickers who always change their identities as soon as the buying and selling is completed,” he said
Continuing, the AIG explained that Marvellous Obi was sold to Mrs. Ibezim when he was a week old, adding that the woman resold Marvellous to one Ken Obi and Appulus Marina Oluchi, currently residing in Italy.
He said the Italy-based couple kept the child in the custody of Echelibe, an alleged caregiver for the syndicate.
“We also have another Promise Ifekwuna who is three years old but was sold by Sunday Okputu through Mrs. Ibezim Chioma to Mrs. Ngozi Ifekwuna sometime in 2021. Mrs. Ifekwuna Claimed to have paid the sum of N500,000 for the purchase of the little boy.
Another one is the case of one-year-old Somtochukwu Onyemaechi who was painfully sold by his biological mother, Faith Sunday, 22, in September 2024 to an unknown individual through Mrs. Ibezim Chioma and the supplier Sunday Okputu.
“The boy was sold at N1,500,000 to someone who resides within Alausa in Ikeja but was eventually recovered on January 29, 2025, in Owerri, Imo State.
“The little Somtochukwu was found in the care of one Nwakuba Helen Chinyere, who stated she was just a nanny employed by her younger sister Caroline Enwereji who resides in California, USA, with her husband but was aware that the boy was bought and paid for.
“In the custody of Mrs Nwakuba Helen Chinyere on the day she was arrested in Owerri was three-year-old Chibuzornma Onyemaechi, who she claimed was brought to her as a newborn baby by the same sister resident in the USA.
“Meanwhile, the final but not the least is one six-year-old Praise Chukwudi Ibezim, who was bought by the prime suspect herself Mrs Chioma Ibezim at the rate of N800,000. She claimed that she bought the boy at that price when the boy was just one week old in Mbaise, Imo State.
“Investigation further revealed that the supplier of these children by name Sunday Okputu can go to any length in making sure he satisfies his prospective buyers. He does not mind stealing any unattended child at any place because as soon as he receives a request from Mrs. Ibezim to supply a child he could do anything to make sure that he delivers. Usually, he asks his buyers for specifications before he swings into action of making it available for them,” said Fayoade.
According to The Nation, all the children were handed over to the Lagos State Ministry of Youth and Social Development, represented by the Commissioner, Mobolaji Ogunlende, the Permanent Secretary, Mrs. Toyin Oke-Osanyintolu and other senior officials.
The Commissioner applauded the police for dismantling the network, assuring that the children would be given the needed care while efforts would be made to either reunite them with their real families or get them adopted by qualified and verified persons.
However, Mrs Ibezim, who’s a teacher in Lagos, denied she was doing it as a business, claiming she only contacted willing sellers to prospective buyers in need of children.
The woman who said she didn’t have a child of her own, told reporters that she bought her now six-year-old son as a newborn from a lady who got pregnant in her village in Imo State.
“I don’t have a child of my own. My husband has been seriously sick. I got Praise when he was a newborn and I paid N800,000. There was a lady in my village who was pregnant and didn’t want the child. So, I offered to take the child as mine and he has been with me since then,” she said.
“Honestly, I did not do any of these as a business. I was just helping them. I did not make any money from the two I midwived. One is my fellow teacher who needed a male child, there was a pregnant lady Sunday introduced us to and she too didn’t want the baby. She paid N500,000 and it was the mother who handed the baby over to her directly.
“The second is the child of Sunday Faith who Mr. Sunday again brought them and said they wanted to sell the week-old baby.”
Mrs. Ifekwuna, also a teacher, said she was desperate for a male child and that was why she told her colleague, Ibezim to get one for her since she already got hers.
She said her only daughter was 22 years and her husband was not around when she got the child, adding that she paid N500,000 to the mother who prayed for her and the boy.
She said the biological mother was unable to fend for herself and the baby, adding that she initially helped them to clear the hospital bill of N150,000 when the boy was born and didn’t make any requests until a week later when the new mom brought the baby to her by her.
Also, Faith Sunday claimed she sold her baby because she couldn’t take her of him, adding that he was sick and she didn’t want him to die since she couldn’t afford to treat him.
She claimed that she was told by Sunday Ochim that the buyer paid N800,000, not N1.5 million, adding that he bought her a phone and then give her money to take care of her needs when she requested.
She said the biological mother was unable to fend for herself and the baby, adding that she initially helped them to clear the hospital bill of N150,000 when the boy was born and didn’t make any requests until a week later when the new mom brought the baby to her by her.
Also, Faith Sunday claimed she sold her baby because she couldn’t take her of him, adding that he was sick and she didn’t want him to die since she couldn’t afford to treat him.
She claimed that she was told by Sunday Ochim that the buyer paid N800,000, not N1.5 million, adding that he bought her a phone and then give her money to take care of her needs when she requested.
Things took another turn when he travelled to their village in Cross River States only for the villages to descend on her for being a child trafficker.
He was said to have escaped being lynched and fled to Lagos where he decided to file a complaint with the police.
