A 10-month old baby boy, Darlington Okoli, has been rescued in Lagos State after his parents, Mr. Daniel Okoli and his wife, Mrs. Blessing, allegedly connived with the hospital management and sold him to human traffickers.
P.M.EXPRESS gathered that the couple in 2022, arranged with the management of God’s Time Hospital, Iyana Ipaja area of Lagos and sold the baby. The hospital was said to have brought the buyer and the baby was sold for an undisclosed amount of money.
However, the information leaked that the baby was sold and the buyer took the baby to Ogun State, where he was eventually rescued by the Police recently.
The couple, Daniel and his wife, Blessing including the three buyers, Hajia Zainab Sule Obada, Rashidat Umoru and Rachel Apata, have been arrested and charged before the Court for conspiracy, buying and selling of the innocent baby.
They were arraigned before the Ogba Magistrate Court for the alleged offence, which attracts several years of imprisonment.
However, they pleaded not guilty when they were arraigned.
The prosecutor from the office of the Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP) did not object to their being granted bail but asked the Court to give a short adjournment for the hearing of the matter to enable the DPP to prove that they actually committed the alleged offence.
The Presiding Magistrate, Mrs. B.O Osunsanmi, granted the defendants bail in the sum of N1m with two sureties each in like sum, who must show evidence of means of livelihood and tax payment. The Court directed that the sureties must own landed property and their addresses must be verified by the Court.
The Court also ordered that the baby must be produced in Court on the next adjourned date in order to know the condition of the baby.
The matter was adjourned till 11th July, 2023, for trial while the defendants were remanded in custody at the Correctional Centre at Kirikiri town, Lagos, pending when they will perfect their bail conditions.