CRIME Mother charged for selling baby N20,000

An 18-year-old resident of Bajoga in Funakaye Local Government Area of Gombe State and a 53-yearold resident of BCGA in Gombe metropolis are standing trial before a magistrate court at Tunfure, Gombe, over alleged selling of a 52-day-old boy.

The mother of the baby, Fatima Mohammed, was accused of selling the 52-dayold baby to one Grace Orji, for N20, 000.

According to the Police First Information Report (FIR) read to the accused persons in court, the duo had on May 30, 2017, at about 3:00p.m., entered into an agreement where Fatima sold her 52-dayold child to Grace.

Prosecuting officer, Inspector Habibu Danjuma, said the two face a two-count charge of criminal conspiracy and unlawful sale of child, which contravened Section 96 of the Penal Code and Section 21 of Human Trafficking Law (Amended) 2003.

Fatima, the mother of the child, pleaded guilty to the charges against her.

She said after giving birth to the boy outside wedlock, she had been finding it difficult to eat and take care of the baby.

“I explained my predicament to Grace and she introduced me to her friend. They brought some papers and asked me to thumb-print, because I am illiterate I could not read the contents of the paper, after which they gave me money inside a polythene bag.

“After I left them, I started to feel guilty that I left my son behind, so I returned the money and asked them to give me back my baby. They refused and ran away with the baby. All my efforts to trace them failed, therefore, I reported to the office of the Human Rights who alerted the police,” she said.

However, the second accused pleaded not guilty to the charges when she was asked by the court if the information was true.

The Defence Counsel, Barrister Sule Yusuf, applied for bail of the second accused, the alleged buyer of the baby, citing a serious sickness she was suffering from.

The presiding Magistrate, Japhet Maida, granted the application and adjourned the case to June 20.

However, he ordered the first accused, mother of the boy, be remanded in prison custody.