OWERRI — A father of seven on Wednesday January 29th 2014 got fed up of his dwindling economic fortunes and contemplated selling his kids off to willing buyers.
Israel Dike, a resident of Ugwu Ekweme, Egbu Road in Owerri, securely tied his seven children, including triplets, to a wheel-barrow and was heading to an unknown destination before officials of Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development intervened.
A staff of the ministry said, “Following a tip off, a high powered team led by the commissioner for Women Affairs, Mrs. Nma Onyechere, quickly went and rescued the children.”
The 44-year-old man was soliciting for buyers for his children out of frustrations of his financial state. He revealed that he wanted to sell only some of them and use the proceeds to take care of the others.
Dike also lamented that Governor Rochas Okorocha put him in the mess he has found himself today.
He said, “Owelle Okorocha is the cause of what I am passing through today. He made me a promise in the past and has failed to redeem it till today.”
The commissioner, Mrs. Onyechere, speaking to newsmen described Dike as a “depressed man, who is mentally deranged.”
She urged Dike’s wife to go for family planning, and also promised that government would carefully ascertain the level of the man’s mental problem.
Answering a question, the commissioner said the ministry would find a way of giving out the children to foster parents with a view to ensuring adequate care and their education.
