By Tunde Odesola, Osogbo, Published: Friday, 26 Mar 2010



Her story is etched in pain, anguish and despair. At 14, Oyenike Ogunbiyi, a JSS student of Bethany High School, Ondo, fled home and became pregnant. At 15, she gave birth to a baby girl. But three days later, her baby was taken from her and she was made to write an undertaking never to ask for her baby again. She was given a cheap mobile phone and some clothes as proceeds from the sale of her baby. She was told to go and have another baby if she cared to.



The people, who took her baby from her told her that the childless wife of a powerful personality has agreed to adopt and take the baby abroad. A petition to the Osun State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Solomon Olusegun, by the lawyer to Oyenike, Mr. Gboyega Amusa, fingered an unnamed wife of a former Osun State commissioner as being part of the racket. The petition was entitled, “Forced adoption and kidnapping of a three-day-old baby girl from her mother, Miss. Nike Oyebiyi: Petition against Mrs. Busayo Adegoju, Mrs. Sade Okediji, and “wife of a commissioner.”



Oyenike left home in Ondo town on September 18, 2008 after a disagreement with her aunt, Dr. Yetunde Korede. In order to be free from parental discipline, Oyenike fled to Ile-Ife, where she slept in shacks and uncompleted buildings. After some days in Ile-Ife, she began to work at Honey Bee Cafeteria in Obafemi Awolowo University . Oyenike, a virgin, later came across a young man called Murphy at the OAU, Ile-Ife. In their dalliance, Murphy, who is a tailor, deflowered her and put her in the family way. Murphy left her in the lurch after she became pregnant. When Oyenike began to move from pillar to post, she came across another young man, Moses, who took her in. When her pregnancy became noticeable, Oyenike left the cafeteria for another menial job at Ezekiah Oluwasanmi Road, where she sold puff puff.



Recounting her ordeal, Oyenike said, “I was born on May 13, 1993 . My biological mother has remarried. My father is late. After I became pregnant and Moses took me in, I later met Mr. Kehinde Shittu, an okada rider (commercial motocyclist), who was extremely kind to me. Shittu, an Ibadan indigene, lives in Ajebamidele area of Ife . I later came across Mrs. Busayo Adegoju, who took me in. But her husband, a lecturer at the OAU, did not approve of my staying with them because of my state. However, his wife would hide me in the room. I later met one Ms Shade Okediji, who lives in another flat at the residence of the Adegojus. I gave birth on July 21, 2009. Mrs. Adegoju and Ms. Shade Okediji said I should give my baby to the latter, saying some people wanted to take my baby abroad. I agreed with them on only one condition: that they must take me along with my baby, but they said no that it was only my baby that would be taken abroad. I was told to write an undertaking that I freely gave out my baby and that I would never ask of her again. Mr. Kehinde Shittu was of immense help to me during this trying period. When the women said they were planning to give me N60,000 for the baby, Shittu backed out, saying it was wrong to sell the child. He refused to collect any money and he left. He personally gave me N2,000 to offset the hospital bill. I was proposing to christen my baby Boluwatife when she was taken from me. Mrs. Adegoju and Ms. Shade Okediji did not give me any money. Mrs. Adegoju said she had spent the money she collected for my baby on my hospital bill and postnatal needs. My aunt in Ile-Ife, Mrs. Tolu Alao, whom I had been dodging since I came to the town, later discovered I was living in Ile-Ife. She came looking for me where I was selling puff puff. When she saw me, she asked if I was pregnant or if I had given birth and I told her my ordeal. Mr. Kehinde Shittu later came to my aunt and he corroborated my story.”



Corroborating her cousin’s story, Alao, an Ife-based businesswoman, said she lodged a complaint at the Moore Police Station in Ile-Ife after she listened to the tale of Oyenike. “I am shocked that some people, including a woman, who calls herself a minister in a church, could descend to such an absurd level. I told all the suspects that they should produce the baby dead or alive. All I want is that they produce the baby. I’m not interested in dragging anyone to court,” she said.



When Aderoju and Okediji initially refused to produce the baby, An OAU-based non-government organisation, Women Against Rape, Sexual Harassment and Sexual Exploitation, took up the matter and petitioned the National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, imploring the agency to investigate the case. In the letter addressed to the Director of NAPTIP and dated March 16, 2010 , WARSHE highlighted the ordeal of Oyenike and urged the agency to conduct an “immediate, thorough and specialised investigation to expose those behind the racket and retrieve the baby.”



Speaking at her residence located on Olonade Street , off Road 7, Ezekiah Oluwasanmi Raod, Ile-Ife, on Wednesday, Adegoju said she was only out to help Oyenike when she realised the predicament of the teenager but that her good intention had later turned sour. Adegoju, a lawyer, said, “If I have an evil intention, I won’t take her to (a public maternity) Enuwa hospital. Okediji initially told me that it was a commissioner of police in Lagos State that wanted to adopt, only to recant at the police station that she did not know who she gave the baby to. My husband warned me that I should not take the girl in but I didn’t listen. I was thinking of taking her to a welfare home but my neighbour (Okediji) said she knew a person who coud adopt the baby; that her elder sister was barren. If she (Okediji) is honest, she would affirm that I was hesitant initially and when she saw my hesitation, she assured me that the man (commissioner of police) knew the legal implication of the action. Three days later she called me to say that the baby was dead. But I knew that trouble was brewing because I knew the girl (Oyenike) would come one day to ask for her baby. I went to the pastor of my friend’s church in Eleyele, Ile-Ife, to tell him of the issue. The pastor said I was on the way to jail. I was later arrested and detained for three days with her. At the station, when she (Okediji) was asked where the baby was, she said she did not know and I had to tell her the implication of her action. I read the criminal code and I knew I was in trouble. We were supposed to go to court on Monday when they came to dump the baby in my compound on Saturday. They became afraid because the family of the girl had threatened to take the case from Ile-Ife to Osogbo. It was one of my neighbours that heard the cry of the baby where they dumped her in the compound at night. They have been threatening me. I have five children, why should I sell someone’s daughter? The police area commander did a wonderful job because he stood his ground against pressures from high quarters. An immediate past commissioner in Osun State (name withheld) came to the station and the area commissioner called his bluff.”



But Amusan, lawyer to Alao, said the businesswoman had been inundated with threats on the phone by unknown persons, who vowed to kidnap her children and kill her if she failed to discontinue the case. He said he might go back to court if the threats persisted.



A fresh petition from Gboyega Amusan Chambers to the Area Commander, Ife Area Command, Alhaji Abdulrasak Ibrahim, on March 22, 2010 alleged that some unknown callers threatened to burn down the Alao’s property. The petition said the complainant had withdrawn the case from court when the child was found on March 20, 2010 at 10:30pm .



When our correspondent visited the wine shop of Okediji along Road 7, Ezekiah Oluwasanmi Road , Ile-Ife, on Wednesday, a teenage girl was there. The teenager, who said she did not know Okediji’s phone number, obliged to give our correspondent’s phone number and message to Okediji when she returned to the shop. But a male voice, who claimed to speak on behalf of Okediji, on Wednesday night, said there was no reason for Okediji to speak with our correspondent because the court proceedings had been reported by The PUNCH.



The Area Commander, Ife Area Command, Mr. Abdulrazak Ibrahim, dismissed the threats by the anonymous callers as empty. He assured that the baby, her mother and her aunt would not come to any harm.”

The Punch:: Desperate motherhood: How baby was exchanged for mobile phone

This is just plain sad.