Matilda Omonaiye/
A woman in Delta State has been accused of selling her two-month-old baby for N1.5 million and then falsely reporting to the police that the child had been kidnapped, a development that has sparked widespread public outrage.
The allegation was disclosed on Saturday by the Delta State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Bright Edafe, in a video and accompanying post shared on X.
According to the police account, the woman sold the infant to a couple before presenting herself at the Ekpan Police Station to claim that she had been attacked and her baby abducted.
Edafe said preliminary investigations uncovered inconsistencies in the woman’s report, prompting further inquiry that allegedly revealed the child had been sold rather than kidnapped.
The incident occurred in Ekpan, a community in Uvwie Local Government Area of the state.
While police have yet to disclose the identity of the woman or the couple alleged to have purchased the baby, the disclosure has generated intense reactions on social media.
Many commenters expressed outrage not only at the alleged actions of the mother but also at what they described as police silence regarding the buyers.
A dominant sentiment among reactions to the post was that the couple who allegedly bought the child were equally culpable and should be identified, arrested and prosecuted.
Several users argued that focusing solely on the mother ignored the role of buyers in sustaining child trafficking and illegal adoption networks.
Under Nigerian law, the sale or purchase of a child is a serious criminal offence.
The Child Rights Act and the Trafficking in Persons Prohibition Enforcement and Administration Act criminalise child trafficking and related practices, prescribing severe penalties, including lengthy prison terms.
The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, NAPTIP, is mandated to investigate and prosecute such offences in collaboration with the police.
As of Saturday afternoon, the Delta State Police Command had not issued a detailed statement on whether the alleged buyers had been arrested or whether NAPTIP had been formally involved.
Edafe indicated that investigations were ongoing.
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