IGBOZURUOKE MEDIA

Miss Nwanneka Susannah Nweze, whose newborn baby was trafficked and sold by some police officers in the Ebonyi State Command has finally opened up, revealing that the officers accused her of being in “illegal marriage” to get hold of her. 

Susannah stated that the officers came on the pretext that the Commissioner of Police ordered for her arrest even without any complainant.

Her family had in a petition to the Assistant Inspector General of Police in-charge of Force Criminal Investigation Department Annex Enugu, accused SP Loveth Uche, officer in charge of the Juvenile and Women Centre (JWC), Ebonyi State Police Command with two Inspectors including Maureen Otum of conspiring to sell their baby boy for N25 million.

In the petition, the family alleged that the police officers sold the baby and gave their daughter Susannah N700,000 to disappear from where the family could not see her.

The family also raised concerns about intense pressure on Susannah to alter her statement, potentially obstructing the investigation and shielding those involved in the alleged baby trafficking. 

However, speaking during an interrogation by the Assistant Inspector General of Police in-charge of FCID Annex, Enugu, AIG Chukwudi Chris Ariekpere, Susannah reportedly opened up and revealed how she was arrested from Afikpo and taken to the Police Clinic in Abakaliki, where she was hidden until her delivery without knowledge of her family.

A senior police officer revealed to SaharaReporters that the interview section, which was recorded on video, took place in the presence of the AIG himself, PPRO, DC Force CID, AC FCID, and other senior police officers. 

According to the source, Susannah told the AIG that she had asked SP Uche Loveth to bring out the complainant who had requested her arrest, but they refused. Instead, they threatened to arrest the man who wanted to marry her in Afikpo, claiming it was an illegal marriage. 

The source said that the lady asked the police, “Tell me when the police started arresting people for illegal marriage.”

The source further stated that Susannah informed the AIG that three policemen, led by one Valentine, had effected her arrest, claiming that the State Commissioner of Police had ordered her arrest. 

“She said that three police officers – two men and one woman – came to arrest her,” the source said. 

“She revealed that they started negotiating the price to sell her unborn baby with the Officer in Charge of the Juvenile and Women Center in Afikpo.”

According to the source, Susannah told the AIG that she had informed the policemen that the man she was living with was not responsible for her pregnancy but wanted to marry her since the person responsible for the pregnancy had denied responsibility.

“The man took her to his family in Afikpo and registered her at Mater Misericordiae Hospital for medical check-ups,” the source said. 

“She claimed to have shown the policemen her hospital card and the baby things they had brought in preparation for her delivery. She also told them that, according to Igbo tradition, the man would take her to her family after delivery, perform her marital rights, and pay her bride price.”

“However, those policemen maintained that her relationship with her intending husband was an illegal marriage and that he had no right to keep her in his house without paying her bride price,” she reportedly told AIG. “The man worked in Abakaliki, the state capital, and only visited her on weekends. When they asked her to call the man, she refused, as they claimed the Commissioner of Police in Abakaliki had sent them to arrest her.”

According to the source, Susannah told the AIG that she refused to follow the policemen and started shouting, which attracted her neighbours. They immediately contacted the Divisional Police Officer at the Unwana Afikpo Police Station. 

“The DPO sent a patrol team that arrived and met them,” she said. “When the patrol team came, I followed them because the three policemen from Abakaliki were not in uniform, and I was skeptical of their mission.” She followed them to the Unwana Police Division, where the DPO confirmed that the three policemen were indeed police officers from the State CID. 

“The DPO told her that since they claimed the Commissioner of Police in Ebonyi State had sent them to arrest her, she should go and find out why the CP had given the directive for her arrest. Susannah asked why the CP would be looking for her, as she didn’t know her. Under pressure from the DPO, she followed them in a red Corolla vehicle to the State CID in Abakaliki.

“Upon arrival at the State CID, they took her straight to the police clinic located inside the police barracks. There, she repeatedly asked them who the complainant was that had instigated her arrest for being in an “illegal marriage.” 

She demanded to know why the CP had directed them to arrest her and asked to speak with the CP. However, they told her that the CP was away, when in fact, they were using SP Loveth Uche as a proxy for the CP.

“She requested to speak with the CP, and they called Loveth Uche. Loveth Uche told her that she had heard that she (Susannah) wanted to give her child away after delivery to someone who wasn’t responsible for the pregnancy. Susannah asked the supposed CP how a man who had taken care of her for over two months could be considered “unofficial.” Loveth Uche then informed her that she would receive N900,000 and should be patient until she returned from travel. Susannah asked Loveth Uche if she was implying that she wanted to sell her unborn baby, which sparked a heated reaction.

“The Officer-in-Charge of the clinic called SP Loveth Uche, who claimed to be the CP, to inquire about the nature of the matter. Loveth Uche told the O/C Clinic that Susannah was a suspect and that if she escaped, she would be held accountable. Loveth Uche fabricated a story, telling the O/C Clinic that Susannah had beaten her mother because she was pregnant and that’s why they brought her to the clinic to deliver her baby and face her crime.”

“The following day, they handcuffed her to a private clinic for a scan to determine the sex of her baby, and the result confirmed that her unborn baby was male. Another person who became involved in the matter was a police corporal named Linda. Her role was to persuade and convince Susannah to accept their terms so that she wouldn’t go to jail. It was Corporal Linda who started convincing her, telling her all manner of things and portraying the man who wanted to marry her as evil. They told her that the man had absconded after learning that the police were coming and that there was nothing that would make her see him again. She suggested that it would be better for her to stay in the clinic, deliver her baby, and give the baby to someone who would give her money, and then she could leave. They threatened that she should never go back and meet the man again.

“This was what she told the AIG FCID Annex Enugu. Her testimony was recorded on video, and the PPRO FCID took the video in the presence of the AIG, DC Force CID, AC FCID, and other senior police officers.

“In her statement, Loveth Uche claimed that Susanna Nweze was a mad woman who had been roaming the streets before they brought her in and delivered her baby for safety. According to Loveth Uche, Susanna had said that if she delivered her baby, she would kill it with poison,” the source revealed.

“One of the policemen who arrested her was from Afikpo, and her name was Inspector Maureen Otum. It was her relative who had given her information about Susanna Nweze, and she had come with other policemen to arrest her. Apparently, this was a business venture for Inspector Maureen Otum and her family. Whenever they encountered young girls who had gotten pregnant out of wedlock or someone who had adopted a child illegally, her family would call her. This was not the first time they had done this. When they arrested these individuals or girls, they would detain them, collect money, and sell their babies.

“They had gone all the way from the state to Afikpo through their informant to pick her up. The man who had taken Susanna Nweze in had been married for five years without having a child. Due to their childless marriage, the wife had agreed to let him take another wife, who would stay in the village. They had agreed that after she delivered, they would go and pay her bride price. 

“The family of Inspector Maureen Otum, knowing that the man’s wife had not gotten pregnant since marriage, found it suspicious that the husband had brought in a pregnant woman and called their daughter to come and handle the situation.” (Sahara Reporters)