Family rejects daughter for refusing to sell newborn baby

The family of one 24-year-old Miss Oluchukwu has allegedly rejected her for refusing to sell her baby boy after she gave birth to him out of wedlock.

Oluchukwu, 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 when she got pregnant out of wedlock, but she refused, insisting on keeping the pregnancy.

She was, however, picked up by a non-governmental organisation, Safenest, after she ran away from the family to Awka, the Anambra State capital.

The executive director of Safenest, Mrs. Oluchukwu Ckukwuenyem, who spoke at a seminar organised by the group, said upon Oluchukwu’s delivery, she contacted her family to break the good news of her delivery to them, but was rather advised to sell the baby for her upkeep and be sure not to return to the family with it.

“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 up for 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?” Ckukwuenyem said.

She revealed that within a year of the operations of her NGO, 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 admitted that abuse of substances like hard drug, alcohol and others were primarily behind the cause of violence in families.

She further commended the Anambra State command of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for their proactive measures in tackling the menace of drug-related issues in the state.