Man sells son to raise funds for late father’s burial

Kingsley Ubani, 26, from Eziama Nsulu in Isiala Ngwa North local government area of Abia said he sold his three-year-old son to raise money to bury his father.

Ubani said this on Thursday in Umuahia when the Abia State Police Command paraded two child trafficking suspects and 19 pregnant teenagers.

He said that he had in November 2012 sold his son for N260,000 to a woman who is now at large.

'I told my wife that I don't have money to bury my father who was in the mortuary at that time and she approved of the transaction,' Ubani said.

The Abia Commissioner of Police, Mr Usman Tilli, told newsmen that the suspect was arrested following a tip-off.

He said that investigations led to the recovery of the child who had been handed over to the grandfather for care and protection.

Tilli said that the police had on Nov. 11, 2013also arrested another suspect, Chimere Sunday of Osisioma local government area of the state for selling his two children.

He said that upon investigation one of the children was recovered, adding that the buyers were on police wanted list.

Also, Tilli said that the 19 pregnant women also paraded were rescued from an illegal charity home at Umuobia Housing Estate, Olokoro in Umuahia North local government area of the state.

'A team of policemen from the command raided the home during which the pregnant girls between the ages of 15 and 23 including a nursing mother were rescued,' he said.

Tilli said that the son and daughter in-law of the owner of the illegal home were arrested while the prime suspect, Mrs Nma Achumba, is at large.

He said that Achumba operated her illegal charity home in Aba, but decided to relocate to the rural area due to police crackdown on traffickers in the commercial city.

'We have given child traffickers a lot of chase in Aba and they now relocated to the rural areas,' he said.

Mr Uchechukwu Ohuabunwa, son of the operator of the illegal charity home said that he had severally advised his mother to stay away from such illegal business.

'I don't know where my mother is at the moment though she told me that she was going for our father's burial.

'I had earlier told her to let go of this business but she did not listen,' Ohuabunwa said.

Meanwhile, Tilli has assured residents of the state of a crime free Yuletide.

He said that their confidence stemmed from the fact that the Command had cracked down and arrested notorious armed robbers and car snatchers that terrorised the area.