Nzube Robert Chukwu, a single mother who was convicted by an Ebonyi State Magistrate’s Court, shared her account of becoming entangled in the act of kidnapping and trafficking infants after her two sons were abducted in 2021.
The 23-year-old single mother who ran out of luck with the last baby she stole was found guilty of her role in a child abduction case in Abakaliki, the Ebonyi State Capital.
New Telegraph reports that Chief Magistrate, Lynda Ogodo sentenced Robert Chukwu to three years’ imprisonment after she pleaded guilty.
During the delivery of the verdict, the Chief Magistrate clarified that the crime of child abduction typically carries a sentence of 10 years imprisonment. However, the sentence was reduced to three years as a result of Chukwu’s time-saving plea of guilty during arraignment.
Narrating how she operates, the 23-year-old single mother disclosed that she was paid N40,000 for each baby she stole.
Chukwu stated that when she took the infants, a certain bus driver named Ofunwa was responsible for their sale, and although she was unaware of the exact amount he sold the babies for, she received a payment of N40,000 for each child.
She acknowledged that the most recent baby she abducted was her friend’s child, adding that she had previously cautioned her friend to be more vigilant in caring for her children.
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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,”
She said that her last operation gave her up, “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.”
