A convicted single mother identified as Nzube Robert Chukwu has narrated how she got involved in stealing and selling babies after her own two sons were stolen in 2021.
Chukwu, the 23-year-old single mother, said she ran out of luck with the last baby she stole.
Raye24reporters gathered that Chukwu was convicted by an Ebonyi State Magistrate’s Court last week for involvement in child theft in Abakaliki, the Ebonyi State capital.
According to The Nation, Chief Magistrate Lynda Ogodo, on October 16, 2023, sentenced her to three years imprisonment following her guilty plea.
The Chief Magistrate, while delivering her judgement, explained that the offence of child stealing attracts 10 years imprisonment, but it was reduced to three years because Chukwu saved the court’s time by pleading guilty upon arraignment.
Narrating how she operates, the 23-year-old single mother disclosed that she was paid N40,000 for each baby she stole.
She said when she stole the babies, a bus driver identified as Ofunwa sold them, and she didn’t know how much he sold the babies, but she was paid N40,000 for each child.
Chukwu said the last baby she stole was her friend’s baby, and she had earlier warned her to look properly after her children.
She narrated, “I joined a child stealing business after losing my two children in 2021. As a single mother, I was looking forward to getting married. So, in 2021, a man saw me and started wooing me for marriage, not knowing that his interest was to steal my babies.
“When my children disappeared, he stopped visiting and packed out of his known residence. Shortly after, a man popularly called Ofunwa, living at Chukwu Street, Abakaliki, met me when I was a sales girl at Margaret Umahi International Market, Abakaliki and introduced me to the business of child stealing.
“When I get the babies, I hand them over to Ofunwa for him to sell, and after the transaction, he gives me N40,000 from the proceeds. I don’t know where he sold them and how much he made. The last N40,000 he gave me, I used it to buy clothes and body cream,”
Speaking on how her last operation gave her up, she said, “I was caught as the baby was crying uncontrollably at the Convent Road axis of Abakaliki on my way to my house. I stole the child of my friend, Ifeoma, who lives at Onichaegu Street, Mgboagbaja, towards Hill Top.
“She is a single mother of four. She leaves her babies in my custody whenever she goes for a night job. I warned her to take better care of her children, but she ignored my advice. The day I stole the baby, she was not around while the children were sleeping; their door was wide open.
“I planned to take the baby to my house and take her to Ofunwa, a bus driver who plies Abakaliki-Enugu-Onicha, the next day. But the cry of the baby was too much as it attracted people’s attention, and they started beating and questioning me. From there, I was taken to a police officer – CSP Onuebonyi.”
Subsequently, Chukwu was arraigned at a Magistrate’s Court in Abakaliki on charges of conspiracy and child theft.
The charge sheet read, “That you, Nzube Robert Chukwu, aged 23 and others now at large on the 29th day of August 2023 at Mgbo-Agbaja in Izzi Local Government Area of Ebonyi State in the jurisdiction of this honourable court did conspire amongst yourselves to commit felony to wit child stealing and thereby committed an offence punishable under section 516A (a) of the criminal code cap 33 volume 1 laws of Ebonyi State of Nigeria 2009.
“You unlawfully made away with a four-month-old baby girl without the consent of her parents and thereby committed an offence punishable under section 33 of Ebonyi State Child Rights Act and Related Offences law 2010.”
