Cameroonian lady arrested for buying a baby for ₦1.2 million

A middle-aged woman believed to be from Cameroon, Evelyn Atemkeng, was arrested yesterday in Calabar, the Cross River State capital, by men of the Nigeria Immigration Service for allegedly buying a three day old baby at the cost of ₦1.2 million.

Mrs Atemkeng accompanied by her aged mother, Anastasia Fambong, was said to have bought the baby boy from a matron of a clinic in Delta State.

Commander of the Cross River State Command, Mr Samuel Ichoi, said his men accosted the lady while she was boarding a ship to Cameroon.

He said: “The lady came from Cameron to Nigeria on Friday without any sign of pregnancy but she was found to be carrying a baby and when my men examined her there are no signs that she just gave birth. So, she and the baby were apprehended.”

Mrs Atemkeng told reporters she gave birth to the baby and that the money she paid into the account of the matron was for delivery and herbs she gave to her to aid delivery.

“She (matron) said my breast would start producing milk in three weeks but for now the baby is taking baby food,” Atemkeng said.

She said she came to Nigeria because she did not have anybody in Cameroon to take care of her.

She said: “I am married and my husband is in Cameroon but there is nobody to take care of me in Cameroon; that was why I came to Nigeria to deliver.”

The Anti-Human Trafficking officer of the NIS at the Calabar Port, Mrs Agbor Ojong Ogar, said she took time to examine the woman and she did not have any sign of someone who just gave birth.

She said: “The woman passed here on Friday; she left on Saturday and returned to Calabar on Tuesday and was heading back to Cameroon with a baby and when we examined her, she does not have any signs of having given birth recently.”