Young single mother flees to seek refuge with NGO after family tell her to sell her baby

EBONYI-born nursing mother identified as Oluchukwu was recently rejected by her family for refusing to sell her baby boy after she delivered him out of wedlock forcing her to run away and seek refuge in the Anambra State capital Awka.

Oluchukwu, 24, is an indigene of Ebonyi State, whose family resides at Awka Etiti in Idemili South Local Government Area of Anambra State, had initially been advised to abort the pregnancy but she refused, insisting on keeping the pregnancy. When she refused to sell the baby, she was rejected by her family so ran away to Awka, the Anambra State capital, where she was rescued by the non-governmental organisation Safenest.

According to the Safenest executive director Oluchukwu Ckukwuenyem, after delivering the young Oluchukwu contacted her family to break the good news to them but was advised to sell the baby for her upkeep and be sure not to return to the family with it. As a result, Oluchukwu has now taken refuge with Safenest.

Mrs Ckukwuenyem said: “We were so amazed when we learnt of this and we have taken it upon ourselves to take care of her and the baby. She is currently in a location we put her.

"We do not want to release her exact location but I can tell you she is doing well. How much will she sell the baby that can assuage her sufferings for nine months?”

Furthermore, Mrs Ckukwuenyem revealed that within a year of operations she has discovered that most families were threatened by very flimsy excuses and had gone ahead to experience serious problems like division, divorce and even murder. She added that the abuse of substances like hard drugs, alcohol and others were primarily behind the cause of violence in families.

Mrs Ckukwuenyem commended the Anambra State command of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency for its pro-activeness in tackling drug-related issues in the state. Baby selling has grown into big business in Nigeria recently, which hard-up young women breeding children for sale.