A couple, George-Sunday Udoh and Victoria George-Sunday, have been arrested by the
Cross River State Police Command for allegedly
putting up their six-year-old daughter, Favour Udoh, for sale at the cost of N400,000.
Southern City News learnt that the couple
decided to sell the child in order to raise money
to rent their own apartment in Ikom, headquarters of Ikom Local Government Area of
the state.
Parading the couple alongside 28 other suspected criminals to journalists in Calabar,
the state Commissioner of Police, Mr Hafiz Inuwa, said that the couple was arrested in
Ikom on April 26 following a tip-off.
A top police source said the couple had
confessed to the crime, adding that the deal was foiled by a decoy policeman.
He said, “From their confession, the wife had
given birth to Favour for another man before
getting married to Udoh. But the couple took
her as their daughter. They have two other
children together. They have been living with
the man’s sister but they are not comfortable
in the house because of insults.
“So, they agreed as couple to sell the girl and
use the money to get accommodation. They
actually placed her for sale at N1.5m. A police
went to pose as the buyer and they agreed for
N400, 000. They were even telling the decoy
policeman that the girl was old enough to do house chores.”
The commissioner of police, however, said that
the couple sold the child out of poverty.
Inuwa added that they were in need of money
to pay their house rent and possibly open up a
small provision shop.
He said, “On April 26 2017, following a tip-off,
our men arrested a couple, George-Sunday
Udoh and his wife Victoria George-Sunday for
allegedly selling their daughter at the cost of
N400,000.
“The suspects were arrested by our operatives
attached to the Ikom division. The case has
been transferred to State Criminal Investigation
and Intelligence Department here in Calabar and
investigation is ongoing,” he said.
But, the father of the child, Udoh, in an
interview with PUNCH Metro, denied the
allegation.
While admitting that the girl was the daughter
of his wife that had lived with them for over
five years, Udoh said they never contemplated
selling the child.
He said, “It is true that we don’t have money
and things are very hard with me and my wife,
but we did not sell our baby for N400, 000. We
never thought of that kind of thing for her,” he
said.
Mother of the girl, who was looking downcast,
refused to comment on the matter.
She simply said, “I do not know what they are
talking about.”
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