Woman Arrested in Imo for Allegedly Attempting to Sell Baby for ₦1.5m, Blames Poverty
A nursing mother has been arrested in Owerri, the Imo State capital, for allegedly attempting to sell her baby for ₦1.5 million, reportedly blaming hunger, homelessness and lack of financial support for her actions.
The woman was apprehended on Monday night following a tip-off by an Imo-based activist and journalist, Chidiebube Okeoma.
According to accounts of the incident, Okeoma received information from an individual who had encountered the nursing mother carrying her baby and allegedly heard her expressing an intention to sell the child.
Following the report, Okeoma advised the informant to pretend to be interested in buying the baby and subsequently arranged a meeting at Rock View, near the Imo State Police Headquarters.
When the woman arrived at the agreed location, Okeoma reportedly drove her and the informant to the police station, where she was handed over for interrogation.
During questioning, the nursing mother allegedly accused another woman of persuading her to sell the baby. However, the woman accused of making the suggestion reportedly denied the allegation.
The nursing mother reportedly explained that she was overwhelmed by hardship, adding that she did not know the child’s father and lacked the resources to cater for the infant.
In a video shared by Okeoma, the distressed woman said she had not eaten for three days despite breastfeeding her baby and had neither a job nor a place to live.
“I don’t want to sell my child because I want to, but seeing the condition I am in, I don’t have the means to raise the child. I don’t have shelter, I don’t have a job, and I have not eaten for the past three days while still breastfeeding the child,” she said.
She further claimed that the baby was conceived through rape and that she had neither parental support nor anyone to assist her.
According to her account, she met the woman she accused of initiating the arrangement while begging for food.
“She told me that she could get someone to take the baby in exchange for money. She even suggested that I should tell the supposed buyer ₦3 million, and that at worst, the person would pay ₦1.5 million for me to start a business and get accommodation,” she alleged.
The nursing mother added that she did not know the prospective buyer, claiming that the other woman handled the arrangements.
Both women are reportedly in police custody as investigations into the incident continue.
The development has drawn attention to the growing challenges of poverty, hunger and economic vulnerability confronting many Nigerians, particularly unsupported single mothers.
Available estimates indicate that poverty stood at 63 per cent on the national poverty line, while about 27 million Nigerians were projected to have experienced food insecurity in late 2025.
Food inflation, identified as a major contributor to headline inflation, stood at 19.57 per cent year-on-year in August 2026, with the prices of transportation and essential food items remaining significantly above their five-year averages.
The situation has also been highlighted in Imo State, where a gubernatorial aspirant recently lamented that many families could only afford to eat rice during burial ceremonies because of uncertainty over their next meal.
Meanwhile, efforts to obtain an official reaction from the Imo State Police Command were unsuccessful, as the Command’s spokesperson, Henry Okoye, did not respond to calls as of the time of filing this report.
