Midwife Buys Day-Old Baby From Teenage Mum For N50,000

A reg­istered midwife with a Lagos state government-run maternity hospital has been arrested and currently being interrogated to unravel why she bought a day-old baby boy for N50,000 from his 19-year-old mum, Chinyere Amechi, who delivered in the hospital. Chinyere had reportedly fled her parents’ house in Lagos for almost one and half years during which she got impregnated by her boyfriend identified as Nonso Nnamba.

According to The Sun, she ultimately delivered her baby and eventually offered the child to nurse Virginia Nwauzor, a midwife at Maternal and Child Health Centre (MCC), strategically located at First Gate, along First Avenue, Festac Town, Amuwo Odofin Local Government Area of Lagos. Mrs Nwauzor in turn took the baby to another woman, a 51-year-old member of the syndicate, Mrs. Rose Ekewe to also trade with.

The deal, however, fell apart like a pack of cards when Chinyere returned to her parents as a prodigal daughter. Obviously glad that they eventually found their daughter that has been missing for months, her parents took her to a private hospital for medical check-up.

The medical exami­nation, however, revealed that Chinyere had given birth. Armed with the medical report, her parents asked for the whereabouts of the baby but she told them a lie; that the baby had died and has been buried. Not satisfied with her explana­tion, her parents probed further and under pressure, Chin­eye eventually opened up to her parents on how a nurse at MCC gave her N50,000 to get the baby from her.

She also alleged that she gave the money to her boyfriend and father of her baby who used it to rent a room apartment at Orile area of the state. With that, the matter was reported to the Satellite police station which had so far invited and quizzed the medical director of the hospital, while the trio of Mrs Nwauzor, Mrs Ekewe and Nonso were arrested and still being detained as the investigation goes on with the baby still missing.

Chinyere’s confession also led to the arrest of three oth­er staffers of the hospital. They include the gynaecologist who took delivery of the baby, the matron in-charge of the nurses and another lady in the administrative section.

Realising that their game was up, Mrs. Nwauzor told the police that she assisted Chinyere to get admitted in the hos­pital when she learnt of the pathetic situation that she was in. She claimed that Chinyere told her that she was a desti­tute and needed a home to keep the child once he was born.

Upon delivery, Mrs. Nwauzor took Chinyere and the new born child to the house of her friend, Mrs. Ekewe who was living alone in Satellite town. She claimed that it was Mrs. Ekewe who gave N50,000 to the Chinyere to assist her since she was a destitute. The amount, she said, was meant to help her get an accommodation and start up a little business.

When the police asked Mrs. Ekewe the whereabouts of the baby that was left in her care, she confessed that she handed the baby over to a childless couple since she could not afford to take care of the child. She promised to help the police trace the couple whom she sold the baby to.

Meanwhile, a reliable source at the hospital that wit­nessed the entire scheme unfold said the entire drama happened in the last two weeks when Chinyere was admitted in the hospital.

“We were surprised that the young lady who never attended ante-natal in the hospital was suddenly admitted. No one understood why Mrs. Atuanya (as she is known by colleagues) suddenly developed interest in the case and was personally running around to ensure that all that was needed during delivery was provided.

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Even when she delivered, the woman kept saying that she has no money nor family member to come and pay the hospital bill. We were still contemplating what to do to her when we learnt that an anonymous person had paid her bills. Everybody was surprised and even asked her how she did it and she explained that it was God that sent a helper her way.

It was when the police stormed the hospital with the mother of the child that we understood why she was so nice to the woman,” the source said.

When the hospital was visited, the staff were seen in groups discussing the unfortunate situation. One of the security men on duty lamented that he does not un­derstand why the police had to arrest the medical director whom he said could not have known that the child was sold.

“I still find it hard to believe that Mrs. Atuanya (Mrs. Nwauzor) will do such an evil thing. Imagine, N50, 000 for a newborn baby.”

A senior officer at the police station explained that the police are cur­rently searching for the family who bought the baby from Mrs. Ekekwe.