Detectives attached to the Lagos State Criminal Investigation Department, Panti, has arrested a musician and his wife over alleged child theft. The couple identified as Mr and Mrs Eze Udoka were alleged to have lured a pregnant food seller to Lagos and stole her child as soon as she gave birth.
They were arrested when their victim, known as Ogechi, alerted the police from a hotel room where she was abandoned. The couple denied the allegation even as the man confessed that he secretly married the food seller when he realised that his wife, Victoria could no longer bear more children for him. He claimed that he left her in the hotel and travelled to Enugu in search of money when policemen arrested him. He also told detectives that the child was with his wife who was not aware that the baby she was asked to keep belonged to him.
At the police station, Eze,32, pleaded that his wife knew nothing about what happened, rather she is the victim. He lamented that he is the only son of his father and needs enough children to move his family lineage forward. “After our marriage six years ago, my wife only gave birth to a son. She could not conceive again”, he stated.
Worried that his wife had not conceived again, Eze hatched the plan. “I am the only son of my father and it is expected of me to expand my generation. Six years after the birth of our baby, she refused to get pregnant. I don’t know if it was deliberate but I knew her menstrual circle and made sure that we had sex during those times.
“I decided to employ the services of another girl in Enugu. I convinced one food seller to date me. Luckily, she got pregnant, this was a dream come true at least I was convinced that I am still potent. My sisters assisted me to arrange a secret wedding. It was necessary because in our culture, if I don’t marry her, she would disappear with the baby.”
According to Eze, he never told Ogechi of his first wife. “She is from a Christian home and they do not tolerate polygamy. I lied to her that I was not married. Towards the time of her delivery, I deceived her that we were travelling to Port Harcourt to buy her baby delivery stuffs. It was easy because in her entire life she never travelled out of Nsukka. Unknown to her, we boarded a car heading to Lagos and lodged her in a hotel. It was easy to keep her in a hotel, because she thought that we are heading to Port Harcourt. Three days later, she was ready to give birth.”
Continuing, he said: “I referred her to a hospital at Orile where she gave birth but they said that the child had shortage of blood. They discharged us but said that the child must stay back. I raised a little money and gave them. As soon as they stabilized the baby, I took him to my first wife and convinced her the baby belongs to my cousin who gave birth and is very weak. She even came and saw her.
“Since I do not have money and my child is safe with Victoria, my wife, I travelled down to the village to raise more money to return. Unfortunately, the day I arrived at Enugu, I met Ogechi’s elder brother. He held me and shouted that I should tell them where his pregnant sister was? I explained that we are now based in Lagos. He started shouting that the family was not aware and had been looking for Ogechi.
“I was arrested and detained in a police station at Enugu. Two days later, they took me to Orile police station in Lagos. It was then I saw Ogechi. I told them how to find my first wife, Victoria. They called her and she brought the baby immediately.
“My greatest mistake was to hide the truth from my first wife. I wanted children at any cost and I don’t want to lose my first wife. She is very hardworking and can comfortably take care of herself and our son. My plan was to keep both women and gradually send Ogechi home when she is done with child bearing. I do not have any plans to steal her child. If that was the case, I wouldn’t have taken her to Lagos.”
On why he locked her up in the hotel room, Eze said that he thought he was going to return the next day. “We had a stove and enough food in the hotel room. I locked the door to keep her safe. I knew that the hotel had a spare and would open it, if the need arises. We were cooking in the room eventhough it is against the regulations of the hotel. I am sorry.”
When asked which of the wives, he would prefer, Eze said, the younger wife. “I will prefer Ogechi, she is still young and fertile. I hope she will forgive me. Of recent, Victoria has suddenly become stubborn and uncontrollable. She is no longer the understanding woman that was ready to do anything to keep her man. I only wish they will forgive me.”
Bitter and emotional, Victoria lamented that getting married to Eze was the worst mistake of her life. “Women should not allow themselves to be deceived by sugar-coated tongues of men. Learn from my mistakes,” she lamented.
According to her, immediately she conceived, her husband changed. “He was my dream man. He pampered me and gave me anything that I needed on earth. He made me to believe that I am his world. He was all that mattered to me and we agreed to get married. I was gainfully employed and decided to assist him when the time of getting married came. I guess that was my greatest mistake.
“He stopped fending for me and my unborn child. It was one excuse after another. Even when I gave birth, he refused to pay the hospital bill. For the past six years, it has been so and I decided that since he was not ready to fend for his wife and kid, I will never have another child for him. He is my husband, any day he comes around, I will surely open the door for him because of my son,” Victoria said, sobbing.
On how the baby got to her custody, Victoria said she was made to believe that Ogechi was his cousin. “He called me that his cousin was in town and that she is pregnant. I said that there is no problem. We agreed that since there was no space in our house that she will be kept in the hotel. They made their arrangement and kept her in a room. One day he stormed the house demanding to know where I was. He came with a baby and asked me to help him take care of the child. He claimed that his cousin had put to bed but was too weak. He promised that he would return the next day. I did not see him again till about five days later when the police called me to report at the station. I did not plan with him to steal the child. If that is the case, I would have relocated from to where I could not be found. He is a wicked man. You can imagine that he got married to another woman and lied that she is his cousin.”
Confirming their arrest, the state police spokesman said that investigation was still ongoing to ascertain what really transpired in the case.
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