The police on Tuesday told a Magistrate’s court in Owerri, Imo state, that they were ready to conduct a paternity test in a popular child trafficking case in the state.
At a resumed hearing, counsel for the police, Chuks Eboh, told Chief Magistrate, Adika Ibe, that the police wants to conduct a DNA test to determine the paternity of two infants who were allegedly bought by one Mrs Chinyere Ohanyere popular known as Madam Chichi.
Apart from the DNA test, the police counsel also disclosed that they were also carrying out further investigation into the matter to unearth the real paternity of the children who were allegedly bought a few months ago for over N1.5m.
Meanwhile, the African Women Lawyers Association, Imo state chapter made an application to join in the matter.
The presiding Magistrate in her ruling, adjourned the case till December 22, 2021, to enable the ministry of justice to state if the trial would continue in her court or at the state high court.
In a related matter, Justice Innocent Njaka, of the state high court on Tuesday declined a nurse, Ngozi Ebuzoaju, bail.
The counsels for the state, J. U. Iwuagwu and her counterpart from African Women Lawyers Association, S. L Okafor, opposed the bail application made by L. O Ukadike, counsel for the defendant on the ground that it was ” a serious case of children trafficking.”
While Iwuagwu told the court that she had yet to serve the motion for a bail application filed by the defendant’s counsel to enable her to file her counter-affidavit, Okafor, vehemently opposed the motion on bail, alerting the court that it was a serious crime against humanity and that the international community was watching.
The jurist in his ruling adjourned the case till December 21, 2021, for a hearing on the motion on bail.
The police had arraigned Ohanyere and Ebuzoaaju, separately, for allegedly buying two infants from two different women.
Police said that there was medical proof that the infants were not from the same womb contrary to the claim by Ohanyere, 55, that she gave birth to the children at the same time.
