Some women from Onireke Market, Ojo, Lagos State, on Friday thronged the Onireke Police Station with a plan to mob two women nabbed by the police for allegedly selling and buying a three-day-old baby.
The police prevented the women from entering the station, but remained at the gate in the blazing sun and expressed awe over the involvement of the buyer and seller.
The traders, who vowed to deal with the women, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the suspects committed crime against God and humanity and must be dealt with to serve as a deterrent to others.
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One of their leaders, identified as Mama Dada, said the mother of the three-day-old baby was putting up with her elder sister in the market, but got pregnant and no man claimed responsibility.
“The sister had been telling the mother of the baby that since they could not cater to the needs of the baby, they’d sell her and she went ahead to sell the baby to a female soldier at the Ojo Army Barracks opposite the market.
“The sister who accompanied the expectant mother to the hospital where she was delivered of the baby took the child from the nurses on duty before the mother regained consciousness from child birth and sold to the solider for N200, 000,’’ she said.
Mrs Beatrice Uzokwe, another trader in the market, who was among the mob at the station, corroborated Mama Dada’s account and said the child’s mother raised the alarm over the issue on Wednesday, December 9.
Uzokwe added that the police arrested the elder sister and went in search of the soldier and the baby.
The Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in charge of the station, CSP Smith, said the police would issue a statement on the issue after investigation.
The atmosphere around the police station was charged as women gathered and chanted war songs. (NAN)
