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By Madu Obi
A middle - aged man, Oruchukwu Okoroafor, who provides accommodation for pregnant girls for the purpose of buying their babies when they are delivered, has been arrested by the men of the Anambra State Vigilante Service.
He was arrested at Umunze, Orumba South local government area, where he resides with his wife and children.
The chairman of Orumba South local government area, Prince Neville Uchendu, ordered for the arrest of the man following an information provided by someone from the community.
It was gathered that Okoronkwo, who hails from Arondizuogu in Imo State has been in the business of renting houses for pregnant girls and taking care of them, until they put to bed.
The girls, it was revealed, are then paid off, while he collects their babies and sells them.
Uchendu said it took three months for the vigilante operatives to investigate the matter, adding that the suspect was caught taking one of the girls who was due for delivery, to an unknown destination, when he was arrested.
The local government chairman subsequently took the suspect to the Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Welfare, Mrs Ify Obinabo, who in turn, handed him over to the police.
The three girls who are aged 14, 19 and 20 years old, and hail from Bayelsa, Imo and Anambra states, respectively, have been rescued.
Okoronkwo, in an interview said he was not the one responsible for their pregnancies, adding that he only offered to shelter them in his house, pending when they put to bed.
He said: “I saw them in different places and noticed that they usually sleep in the open, so I took them to my house."
“They already had the intention to sell the babies, and one of them already had a buyer, who promised to pay N300,000 when the baby is delivered."
“I have been in this business for just two years, and this is my first batch of girls".
Obinabo, the Women Affairs Commissioner, said the suspect would be further investigated and subsequently charged to court for prosecution
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