A serving female soldier and two nurses have been arrested over the alleged theft and sale of a newborn baby in Akamkpa Local Government Area of Cross River State.
The suspects were apprehended after the baby’s mother, 19-year-old Justina Valentine Boniface of Aningeje village, raised an alarm, security analyst Zagazola Makama reported on Friday.
Boniface said she delivered a baby boy on August 12, 2025 at the Primary Health Centre, Aningeje, where she had registered for antenatal care.
She alleged that while she slept at night after delivery, two nurses on duty, identified as Ndifon Nelly Ekpu, 45, and Obi Mary Baken, 38, conspired to steal the baby.
According to her, the nurses told her that the child had d!ed and was buried within the facility, but she later discovered this to be false, prompting her to report to the police.
Police said the two nurses were arrested and confessed to selling the baby to a buyer, identified as W/Sgt. Aisha Yakubu, a serving member of the Nigerian Army, who was also arrested.
The police added that efforts were ongoing to arrest the final receiver of the stolen child and recover the baby.
This is heartbreaking and deeply shameful—turning a place meant to save lives into a marketplace for stolen innocence is pure evil, and justice must be swift and uncompromising.