Customs officer and wife arrested for buying babies

A customs officer, identified only as Azeez, and his wife were arrested by the Sango Police Division last Thursday 22nd October, Punch reports.

It was reported that the babies, who were reportedly four days old on that day, had also been recovered by the police from the

Azeez, who is attached to the Nigerian Customs Service, Ogun Area Command, and his wife had been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department, Command headquarters in Eleweran, Abeokuta.

A source said Azeez had confessed to the crime in his statement to the police. She said the NCS officer allegedly paid the sum to obtain the babies when his wife did not give birth to a second child after 23 years.

She said:

“The incident happened last Thursday. The police got a tip-off that the couple had gone to Ibadan, Oyo State, to buy twin babies for N500,000. We then moved in on them and discovered it was true.

The twins were just four days old on the day of the arrest. We have not seen the parents yet.

The customs man said in his statement that he and his wife already had a child together but they had tried to have a second child for 23 years and so they decided to purchase the twins. The suspect told the police that he paid N500, 000 for the babies. The babies had been with the police until Friday, when they were transferred to Abeokuta.

The suspects were taken to the anti-kidnapping section of the SCID. It is possible that the parents of the babies connived with the suspects because they have refused to show up since the day of the arrest. But the babies are doing very fine.”

The Ogun State Deputy Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Abimbola Oyeyemi, confirmed the arrest. He added that investigations were still ongoing.

He said:

“The arrest is true. The case has been transferred to the SCID, and it is being handled by the Anti-human trafficking department. The suspects are still undergoing investigation.

During our investigations, we will get across to the parents and find out the circumstances that led to the disappearance of their babies.

We will also get across to the NCS authorities to show the level of complicity of their officer.

I cannot disclose the suspect’s name, because we are still investigating. He was arrested with the wife.”

The Public Relations Officer, Nigeria Customs Service, Federal Operations Unit, Zone A, Ikeja, Lagos, Ejesieme Uche, when contacted, referred the press to the Ogun Area Command spokesperson, Usman Abdullahi.

“He will be in a better position to confirm or debunk this,” he added.

Abdullahi, however, had yet to reply to a text message sent to his phone on the incident as at the time of compiling this.