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• How child trafficking syndicate stole my day-old-baby – Lagos woman
• Not true, you willingly gave out your child, suspect says
• We’re investigating incident – Police
By Christopher Orji and Vivian Onyebukwa
A single mother of one, Joy Amadi, has cried out to the Nigeria Police to assist in getting back her child allegedly taken from her in Lagos.
Amadi, who hails from Isiala Ngwa South, Abia State, said a cartel of human traffickers approached her under the pretext of assisting her financially during her latest pregnancy, and eventually made away with her newborn child.
Narrating her story to Saturday Sun, Amadi, who lives in Ogombo, Abraham Adesoya, Ajah, Lagos, said she made friends with a certain Jennifer, whose real name is Mary, from Benue State, a lady who frequently visits her neighbour. She said that was the beginning of her ordeal.
She said she went to live in Ogombo when her relationship with her husband, Paul, started having problems. According to Amadi, her husband refused to take responsibility for her three-month-old pregnancy then. As a result, she could not take care of the pregnancy.
“One of my neighbours, Joy, encouraged me to go and register for ante-natal for the safety of the child. She directed me to different hospitals around Badore, and, eventually, I registered at a hospital there,” she said.
According to her, Mary increased her visits to her at that point and they became very close. She added that Mary further introduced her to another woman, one Violet Ogbonnaya, from Abia State, who also lived in that area.
“The first day I visited Violet Ogbonnaya with Mary, she was not at home. When I asked Mary what Violet does for a living, she told me Violet does international passports for clients. So, one day, Violet invited me to her house to help her with some chores, which I did. That was how we became friends, too. She started inviting me to come and help take care of her child, while she was at work and also carry out other duties for her at home,” she said.
Amadi said at the time, her pregnancy was about eight months old. She claimed that Violet took her phone number and promised to get some people to help her financially until she delivered her baby.
“The next day, Violet called that I should meet her at Mother and Child Hospital at Abraham Adesoya. It was there she introduced me to a woman and a man whom she said would be helping me financially, until I delivered my child. The next day, the hospital authorities gave us a list of things to be provided in preparation for the child’s delivery. The list included N350, 000 for registration, N700, 000, and another N500, 000 because I was going to deliver through Caesarian operation.”
The first money sent to Amadi through Violet Ogbonnaya, according to her, was N60, 000 which they allegedly paid to Amadi’s bank account after Violet Ogbonnaya requested her bank account during one of her visits to her house.
“From then, these people kept helping me financially, and promised that they would take care of me till I delivered,”, she said
Amadi said Violet advised her not to give any more information to Mary concerning their deal, alleging that Mary is a drunk and not capable of keeping secrets.
“Mary , she saidto tell me that she and Violet are half-sisters, but later I discovered that they are in no way related. While Mary is from Benue State, Violet hails from Abia State”.
When it was time for childbirth, Amadi said that the hospital insisted that all bills must be paid beforehand. “The bills were paid. I delivered on Wednesday, October 23, 2025, at Mother and Child Hospital at Abraham Adesoya, Badore, Ajah, Lagos. Then Violet Ogbonnaya came along with the woman that had been assisting me financially. I spent four days before I was discharged. The woman visited me once while I was still there and brought some provisions and new baby clothes.”
When it was time for Amadi to be discharged, she said something happened: “When they wanted to discharge me on Sunday, the sun was harsh and I couldn’t walk because of the pains. So, Violet Ogbonnaya suggested that I stay in a hotel, as she wouldn’t have time to take care of me at home. I didn’t have any relative around who could help me. When Violet Ogbonnaya came with the man who came previously with the woman that was assisting me with money, she told me that the woman was admitted in the hospital, and, therefore, sent another woman entirely who would assist me. They brought two cars. They helped me to arrange my clothes and my baby’s clothes in separate places. Before I could manage to come down from the hospital, they had already put my baby in a different car. The woman that came to pick me promised to go with my baby to take care of him until I get better, since I was not strong enough to take care of the baby. She sent N800, 000 to my account. When I asked her what the money was for, she said I should use it to take care of my other daughter. I told her that that was not our agreement, and that even if she wanted to do something, she should have discussed with me.”
After a few days when Amadi said she did not set her eyes on her child, she went to Violet Ogbonnaya’s house and confronted her. Her response was devastating: “She told me that she did not know those people. The next day, I went to make a report at the police station.”
At the police station, Amadi complained that she faced another round of trauma: “One of the police officers started insulting me, saying, after all they did for me, I was still looking for my baby. He asked me to go and use the N800, 000 and find a useful thing to do for my life.”
However, that same day, Violet Ogbonnaya was arrested. “She begged me to withdraw the case and join hands with her to find my baby. When the matter was transferred to the Police Headquarters, Ikeja, Lagos, an officer called Henry, requested I pay him N250, 000 and promised to help me to find my baby. I did. The other man involved was arrested and he confessed that they sold the baby for N5 million.”
At that point, the matter took a different dimension.
“When I called officer Henry to know how far he had gone, he warned me not to call him again. He told me to go to hell and do whatever I wanted to do,” she alleged.
Amadi, who is embittered, said that the gang also arranged someone to steal her phone where she had most of the evidence concerning the case. She equally alleged that they tried to poison her to cover up tevidenc.
“Right now, my life and my daughter’s are in danger. I can’t find my baby. Does it mean that poor people cannot get justice in this country or what? I want my baby back. I have made inquiries around and discovered that this is the business they have been doing. All of them involved in this case are in the same business. This is a cartel, selling people’s babies. I don’t know what to do. I am tired.”
Violet Ogbonnaya responds
In a quick reaction, Ogbonnaya denied selling the baby, saying that she only assisted Amadi to achieve her aims of handing over the newly born to a capable hand that would take good care of the child.
She said, “Though the case is in court, because of the fresh allegation that I am after her life, I have to clear my name. I don’t know where she lives, so, how would I send people after her and would want to kill her? Rather, she is the one dragging me up and down. After helping her, she is paying me with ingratitude. I don’t know what she is talking about. Check out my profile, I don’t associate with touts. I did not take her child. She willingly gave up the child to a woman. She was the one who used to come to me. She said she had made three attempts to abort the child, but the pregnancy didn’t remove. I advised her not to abort the child, instead, she should deliver it and hand it over to an orphanage or to the person who needed the child and is capable of training it. She already had a child who she can’t feed well, so adding another baby would be a disaster. Out of pity, I started looking for someone who genuinely needed a baby, someone who would not enslave the child. If I had my way I would have kept the baby, but I don’t have the capacity. I contacted a lady who started assisting her, but the lady said she wouldn’t be able to take care of a male child, so, I contacted the person that contacted another person who was interested. I don’t know what she is saying. She was the person coming to beg me to assist her.
“Yes, I made a mistake not following the legal way of child adoption. I accept my mistake, but accusing me of child theft is not good, because she begged me to assist to give out the child. Honestly, after she handed the baby to the woman who eventually took the child, I went my separate way and I don’t know where the child is, but the woman spoke with her, registered her in the hospital, paid N100, 000 for anti-natal and took care of the hospital bill because she delivered through caesarean operation. The woman promised to be sending her food every month. She was not doing exercise and she was always hiding in the house that was why she was not able to deliver the baby normally. That woman paid over N500,000 for hospital bill. The way the woman took care of her, I have no doubt that the child will be happy”.
Violet explained why they lodged Amadi in a hotel after birth. She said: “Why we lodged her in the hotel was because she said she wouldn’t be able to go home the day she was discharged from the hospital. She begged that she needed money to take care of herself. That was why they gave her N800,000 to start raising chicken. I thought I was helping a reasonable person, not knowing that I was helping an ungrateful person.”
Police react
However, a senior police officer at Special Enquiry Bureau (SEB), Command headquarters, said the case was being investigated.
“There is more to the story than meets the eyes. We are investigating the allegations of threat to life and that of child theft syndicate or cartel. It is not everything that should be said in the public for now.”
Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) Adebola Adebisi, said she had not been briefed about the case, but promised to find out the actual situation of the case.
