A 24-year-old woman, Blessing Okonkwo, who was arrested for allegedly selling her three-year-old sibling, Friday Okonkwo, for N410,000 in Adamawa State, has given an explanation for taking the action.
Miss Okonkwo said she used the proceeds of the crime to buy a grinding machine in order to start a petty business, and also gave her boyfriend N200,000 out of the money to buy items required for their traditional wedding.
During her confession, she cited the severe economic hardship in the country as the driving force behind her actions.
She revealed that she had deceived her mother by promising to enrol the child in a school in Mubi, a city approximately 40 kilometres away from their home.
According to her, a willing buyer, Efunaya Nabufe, subsequently trafficked the boy to Enugu, a city in the southeastern state of Nigeria.
“I used the proceeds of the crime to buy a grinding machine so I can start a business and also gave my boyfriend N200,000 to buy items required for our traditional wedding,” she admitted.
The victim’s mother, Hauwa Lawan, who resides in Rimirgo in the Askira Uba Local Government Area of Borno State, was shocked beyond imagination by the suspect’s action.
“She visited some time last year and lied to me that she would be taking her kid brother to enroll him in a school in the city, seeing there’s no good school in our village.
“Ever since she took away the boy, I never heard from him because every time I called to hear his voice, she kept telling me one lie or another for one year now.
“I got tired of asking and since I least suspected my own daughter could do this to me, I didn’t raise any alarm,” Hauwa recounted.
The deceit unraveled when Blessing took her proposed husband home to her father in the southeast.
Her father demanded to know the whereabouts of the child before considering her marriage proposal.
Blessing lied, claiming the child was dead. Suspicious, her father consulted an oracle, which revealed that the child was alive.
Faced with this revelation and her father’s threat, Blessing confessed that the child was living with a woman in Enugu.
Upon learning the truth, Hauwa reported the matter to the police, leading to the swift arrest of Blessing and her accomplice, Efunaya Nabufe.
The spokesperson for the police in Adamawa State, SP Suleiman Nguroje, confirmed the arrests.
“On July 2, 2024, one Hauwa Lawan, a resident of Rimirgo in the Askira Uba Local Government Area of Borno State, reported to the Adamawa State Police Command that her three-year-old son, Friday Okonkwo, was stolen.
“Immediately, the Commissioner of Police, Dankombo Morris, ordered the Divisional Police Officer in Mubi South, SP Aaron Ezra, to commence an investigation.
“As God would have it, two suspects, Blessing Friday, 24, and Efunaya Nabufe, 35, were apprehended in connection to the crime.”
Nguroje further stated, “The Commissioner of Police has directed a discreet investigation.
“All suspects, including the two who are providing useful information, will be charged to court according to the extant laws of the land.”
– Platform Times
