Woman Sells Child for Half Bag of Rice in Imo

By Amby Uneze in Owerri

A mother, Chioma Fidelis, age 20, from Ehime Mbano Local Government Area of Imo State, yesterday, said after selling her less than one year old baby, she was given a half bag of rice, chairs and provisions as well as bags of cement to build a house.

Chioma made this confession, while being paraded alongside 40 suspects who allegedly committed other offences by the Imo State commissioner of police, Mr. Chris Ezike, at the police headquarters in Owerri.
According to Ezike, the arrest of the child traffickers was made on the 10th of July, 2017 by the surveillance team of the command.
He said that it was as a result of the whistle blowing policy of the command as well as community policing methods.

In her confession, Chioma said: “I got pregnant by mistake. I did not know when the thing enter. When I born the baby I did not have money to take care of him.
“So I decided to sell the child. They told me that they sold the child for N700,000. I did not collect any money from them. They gave me half bag of rice, chairs, provisions and bags of cement which I used to repair my house.”

Mrs. Chidimma Unakalamba, age 34, from Mbomiri in Mbaitoli Local Government Area of Imo State, who facilitated the sale of the baby, said that the mother of the child complained that she could no longer take care of the baby.
“When the mother brought the baby to me and I took the baby to the hospital and the hospital confirmed that the baby was suffering from kwashiokor.

“From there, I started taking him to various churches to get healing and I succeeded. I spent N137,000. I spent N200,000 on the mother,” she stated.
The alleged buyers of the child, a man and his wife, Mr. Jonas and Salomi Anyanwu are from Umunakanu in Ehime Mbano Local Government Area of Imo state.

According to Salomi, “It is true that my husband brought the money that we use in buying the child. Let me tell you, because we need the child my husband had to borrow money, 700,000 and give it to Chidimma, and collect the child.
“I wanted to reject the child but because of God I collected the child and started training him.”