A pastor at the Divine Yard Deliverance Ministry in Iyana Iyesi, Ota,
Ogun State, Peace Udoh, has been arrested by the police for allegedly
running a baby factory in the church.
The 47-year-old was said to have sold 64 babies before she was
arrested on Sunday by operatives from the Lagos State Police Command who
acted on a tip-off.
Udoh was apprehended with one Angela Akpan and a nurse, Mrs. Bukola
Ajala, who reportedly assisted in childbirth at Udoh’s church.
PUNCH Metro learnt that the pastor usually referred
complicated cases to the nurse, whose clinic – El Shaddai Hospital – is
located a few metres away from the church.
Our correspondent gathered that Angela’s younger sister, 17-year-old
Goodnews Akpan, recently gave birth to a child at the clinic.
Angela, who was arrested on Saturday in the Sango area, was said to
have led police operatives on Sunday to Udoh’s church and Ajala’s
clinic, where they were picked up respectively.
While parading the suspects on Monday at the Lagos State Police
Command headquarters in Ikeja, the Commissioner of Police, Fatai
Owoseni, said detectives swooped on the syndicate after receiving
intelligence report that Udoh needed a buyer for Goodnews’ baby.
“The suspects run a baby factory in the Sango Ota area. We are still
working to get 64 other children she has sold out,” the CP added.
However, the pastor, who hails from Akwa Ibom State, refuted the
allegation, saying she used the church as a maternity home to assist her
pregnant church members for a token.
She said, “I have been a pastor for 13 years. I only assisted my
church members during childbirth. I take delivery of 13 to 15 babies
every year and I have handled over 60 cases so far. I don’t sell the
babies.
“Whenever I have a complicated case, I refer the patient to the nurse
and we share the money she collects for the service. Angela brought her
sister to me in July. She gave birth on November 16 at the nurse’s
clinic and she was discharged. I was surprised when the police came to
arrest me yesterday (Sunday).”
Ajala, the nurse, said she collected between N15,000 and N17,000 for
each child delivery, adding that she didn’t know anything about selling
of babies.
The third suspect, Angela, said, “I am from Abak in Akwa Ibom. I took
my sister from our village to the pastor when her pregnancy was four
months. She was there until she gave birth in November and I paid
N17,000. I didn’t intend to sell her child and I have never sold any
child before.”
Goodnews, a secondary school dropout, told our correspondent that she
was not aware of the plan to sell her baby. She said she followed
Angela to Lagos to avoid being ridiculed in the village.
“I got pregnant in the school but none of my boyfriends was willing to take the responsibility for the pregnancy.
“My mother would not allow me stay with her so I decided to follow my sister to Lagos,” she added.
Its well.
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