National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, (NAPTIP)
in Ebonyi State has taken custody of a woman, Odinaka Ali, arrested by
police for allegedly attempting to sell her 3 children.
According to the Desk Officer of NAPTIP, Florence Onwa, the 25-year-old
woman from Ezilo in Ishielu area of Ebonyi State was living with her
husband and three children in Enugu State until eight months ago when
her husband abandoned them to an unknown destination.
The woman was arrested following a tip-off by a restaurant attendant she
contacted to look for a trafficker who can buy her children as she
could no longer take care of them.
“She wanted to sell the baby but it didn’t work. She was so unfortunate
because the person she met to assist her sell the baby reported the
matter to the police,” said Mrs. Onwa.
However, the suspect denied the allegation saying though she sought
financial assistance from the attendant to feed her children and pay her
house rent, she never discussed selling them with anybody.
The woman, according to PT, who said her husband was from Amekpo Ohafia
in Ohafia area of Abia State, said her arrest by the police and
subsequent handover to the State Ministry of Gender Affairs in Enugu
before being brought to NAPTIP Office in Ebonyi State, was a frame-up.
Her words: “My husband is from Amaekpo Ohafia, Abia State. I and my
husband had issues before and we later reconciled. We did not have any
problem when he abandoned us in April this year.
“When I stayed few weeks I did not see him, I started doing menial jobs
with my little children to enable me feed them. I kept doing this till
it became so difficult for me to continue it and I decided to return to
my village.
“I didn’t want to sell my children at the initial time because I passed
through caesarian operation before giving birth to all of them. I met a
girl who sells food in a restaurant and narrated my problem to her and
she promised to assist me.
“l met the girl before, so she asked me to come to her and wait for a
woman who will enter into discussion with me. I waited for the woman and
she did not come. I did this three times and I told the girl that I
will not come again.
“She persuaded me to continue coming and I changed my heart. Before I
could notice it, Policemen stormed the place and started asking me what I
was doing there and the whereabouts of the three kids I wanted to sell.
“I told the policemen that I didn’t want to sell my babies because I
gave birth to them through operations. The policemen asked me to follow
them to their station and I refused.
“They immediately invited a policewoman who came and asked me to follow
them to the station, that I should obey before complain and I followed
them to the station.
“While in the station, the girl who asked me to come to her said I told her to start looking for who will buy my children.”
The head of Child Development Department, Ministry of Women Affairs and
Social Development, Godwin Igwe, called on public spirited individuals
to assist the woman take care of the children.
He said: “The three children and their mother just repatriated from the
Enugu Ministry of Gender and Women Affairs to Ebonyi. The woman is from
Ishielu local government area of Ebonyi State. When we interviewed her,
she said she is finding it very difficult to survive let alone feed her
children. She said her purported husband abandoned her and the children
in April.
“She said it was very difficult for her to be carrying the third child
of eight months old for menial jobs and she became a wanderer. So, the
Enugu state government repatriated her. Her mother is late and the
father is very old and has nothing doing.
“Her major problem is how to eke a living. She said if the government or
public spirited individual can assist her, she is ready to take care of
her children.
“If she is allowed to continue to wander in the streets, the children
are at risk and if anybody approaches her for the children, she can
easily release the children to the person and they will become victims
of child trafficking. So, the Enugu government did not repatriate her
out of malice or hatred but for safety of the children.”
