…As Lagos Court remands student Nduka Kalu, who allegedly defiled a teenager he met on Facebook***
Anambra has rescued three pregnant girls from a baby factory and child trafficking syndicate in Umunze, Orumba South Local Government Area of the state.
They are a 14-year-old from Arondizuogu (Imo), a 20-year-old from Bayelsa and a 19-year-old from Ihite Orumba in Anambra.
Their unborn babies were to be sold at N300,000 each, upon delivery.
Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Welfare, Mrs Ify Obinabo, told newsmen on Wednesday in Awka when she received the rescued girls and a suspect that the rescue followed a three-month investigation.
The investigation, she added, was conducted by operatives of the Anambra Vigilance Group (AVG) and the Transition Committee Chairman of Orumba South council area, Mr Neville Uchendu.
Obinabo said a suspect, one Oruchukwu Okoroafor of Arondizuogu in Anambra, who runs the syndicate, had been arrested.
“I commend the Orumba South Local Government Council chairman and the vigilance group for bursting the syndicate after a careful three-month investigation of the suspect.
“I assure you that the apprehended suspect will not go scot-free. We will hand him over to the police for further investigation. He must face the consequences of his crime.
“I call on residents to emulate the Orumba South council chairman in making Anambra a liveable and prosperous homeland,’’ she said.
In exchanges with newsmen, the girls said the suspect was not responsible for their pregnancies but offered to shelter them in his house pending their delivery dates.
They said the suspect promised to get them jobs and offered to give each of them N300,000 after they had been delivered of their babies.
The suspect in his own case told newsmen that he had been in the business for two years and that the girls were his first set of clients in 2023.
“The intending buyers of the unborn children already promised to pay N300,000 per head, but I do not have their contacts,’’ Okoroafor said.
In another development, an Ikeja Chief Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday remanded a 24-year-old student, Nduka Kalu, who allegedly lured a teenager to a hotel and defiled her.
The Chief Magistrate, Mrs Bola Osunsanmi, did not take the defendant’s plea, insisting that she needed advice of the state’s director of public prosecutions.
Osunsanmi ordered that Kalu should be kept at the Kirikiri custodial facility pending the advice.
The defendant, a resident of 4, Petidabo St., Shomolu, Lagos State, is charged with defilement.
The prosecutor, SP Raji Akeem, had told the court that Kalu committed the offence on Aug. 14 at Villa Hotel, Shasha, Lagos State.
According to Akeem, the defendant lured the 14- year-old who he met on Facebook, to the hotel in the guise of helping her to achieve her dream of becoming a fashion model and an actress.
The prosecutor alleged that the defendant defiled the minor in the process.
According to the prosecutor, the offence contravenes Section 137 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.
The chief magistrate adjourned the case until Oct. 19 for mention.
