Tony Osauzo, Benin

Two men, Kenneth Ofeke and Stephen Obi, who sold three siblings for N500,000 in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, have been arrested by operatives of the Edo State Police Command.

Police gave names of the siblings, two of who are twins, as Wisdom, Kenneth and Sunny, even as it is yet to be determined whether they are still alive.

The children were said to have been taken from Edo State and sold to a woman in Port Harcourt who later resold them to other persons in Lagos State.

Speaking to journalists, Kenneth, 26, claimed that he led his former girlfriend to sell the children because they were ill and he could not cater for them, adding that he discussed sales of the children with their mother.

“I hail from Ebonyi State. We are from the same state. I have not paid her bride price. She gave birth to twins. She was not okay after delivery. The children were not well. My parents are not alive so I sought to look for help. I called one aunty in Port Harcourt.

“We took the children to Port Harcourt. The aunty made some inquiry. I gave her the children to take care of and she gave me N500,000.

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“We didn’t discuss price. She just gave me the money. I am a Welder. There is no help and the children are not well. Their mother was my girlfriend. She had Wisdom for a man before I met her. She took in after we departed but said the man she had the twins for does not care for her,” Kenneth narrated.

On his part, Stephen, 48, denied selling any child and said he only provided his Goodness and Mercy Orphanage Home for the children to be adopted and not sold, saying that he collected N50,000 as logistics per child.

“I have not sold any child. I helped to adopt for parents looking for children. I collect N50,000 registration fee for logistics. It was the police that told me here that Kenneth is not the father of the children. I told the woman to demonstrate she is the mother and she breastfed the children. They said they wanted a home that can take care of the children.

“We followed due process and give them affidavit and consent agreement. The people that adopted the children reside in Lagos State,” he disclosed.

Meanwhile, the police have described Kenneth as a serial child trafficker, who had earlier sold a baby for N1m in Port Harcourt.

The state Commissioner of Police, Damallam Abubakar, said the suspects would soon be charged to court.