Woman surrenders daughter to settle debt of N100 rice

ayodele johnson

March 23, 2018 9:29 AM

A mum who saw her daughter only fit to settle money owed following a rice purchase has been nabbed.

In Ebonyi State, Nigeria,

The amount was money expected after a purchase of rice. Pressures from seller soon forced the mother, Mrs. Veronica Igwe, to offer the child in a bid to fulfill obligations, Punch News reports.

Mrs. Cecilia Elom, in charge of cases relating to child abuse and maltreatment at the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, confirmed this while interacting with newsmen.

She added that the mum was handed over the police after honouring a meeting invitation.

“On reaching the area, we saw little Uloma with another seven-year-old boy hawking.

"When we interrogated them, they said Nwali, whom they were living with, forced them to hawk.

“Officials of the Ministry of Women Affairs invited the suspect to the office.

"She honoured the invitation and was handed over to the Ebonyi State Police Command for interrogation,” Elom told reporters.

The shocking incident resonates with the action of 30-year-old Rosemary Okafor, who used money realised from the sale of a newborn baby to groom older children.

Mom sells newborn baby to raise older kids

Rosemary Okafor, a 30-year-old mom has been arrested for selling her newborn baby for the sum of N350,000. She had planned to use the money acquired to raise three other kids.

She was apprehended by reps from the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP). Okafor, it was gathered, was lined up among a group of human traffickers engaged in the abduction and sale of children.

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The mother is part of a crop of 8 men and 3 women, nabbed on suspicion of abuse related to the sale of human persons in Lagos, Abuja and the south-eastern part of Nigeria.

According to reports, she admitted selling the baby in order to raise funds needed for the tuition fees of other children.

ayodele johnson