Olawale Omolaja (right) was arrested by
men of the Lagos State Police Command for selling a week-old baby for N300,000
to a childless couple. Omolaja was arrested along with a couple Dele and Radiat
Onogbile,
following a tip-off.He reportedly sold the baby to the couple after
they paid him N136,000 as an advance. Left is the biological mother of the baby
sold.
All the suspects were caught
after the couple’s landlady in the Mile 12 suburb of Lagos discovered that the
woman had a new born baby without being pregnant. She was said to have notified
the Ketu Police Division of the suspicious presence of a new born baby in the
couple’s home. Upon interrogation, it was discovered that Mr Omolaja, billed
the couple N300,000 for the baby.
Further investigation revealed that the
baby’s mother, Idiat Babatunde, a student at the Offa Polytechnic in Kwara
State, initially claimed said she gave Mr Omolaja her baby in order to go and
complete her clearance in school,it appears she knew about the sale of her
child. Idiat, 39, claimed she left the baby in Mr Omolaja’s care because he’s a
doctor and a friend to her husband.
It was also gathered that Idiat
collected N70,000 from the 136,000 before leaving for school. She was said to
have given the baby up because her supposed husband, Akiola, abandoned her
after impregnating her and relocated to Rivers State.
Unable to fend for the child a week
after it was born, she handed over the baby to Mr Omolaja, who has been the
Onogbile's doctor since 2009. Their marriage was at the brink of
collapse as a result of childlessness and that they were separated until the
baby was handed over to them on September 14. Idiat said:
"I gave
birth in September 5 and on September 13, I gave the baby to Dr Omolaja because
I needed to go back to school in order to complete my clearance so that I can
go for National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) with the next batch. I gave him the
baby because I was having issues with my husband and we have been separated. I
planned to spend two weeks in school and two weeks in Lagos but that same week
that I went to school, I received a call that I should come and identify my
baby at Ketu police station. I was surprised because I did not know what my
baby could be doing in Ketu."
The childless couple said they
repeatedly asked Mr Omolaja about the mother of the child but he told them that
the baby's biological mother was dead. Police say all the arrested persons will
be charged to court immediately after the current Sallah holidays
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