40-year-old Monday Okon Inyang, attempted to sell his 11-year-old son, David Monday Inyang, for the sum N100,000 to an Alhaji in the Bogobiri area of the state capital, In a suburb of Calabar metropolis, the capital of Cross River State
The sordid story began in June, 2015, when the young boy voluntarily confessed to his father that he was bewitched and possessed by an evil spirit, which had worked through him to cause his misfortune. He also begged the father to forgive him for all the trouble he had unwittingly caused him, while under the influence of the evil spirit.
An elder in the neighbourhood, Mr. Bassey Joseph, who spoke with Sunday Sun expressed discomfiture over the incident. He said: “It is quite unfortunate that such ugly incident occurred in our community. The boy confessed to the father he is a wizard, and he took him to various churches for prayer and deliverance. He even took him to some herbalists to exorcise the evil spirit.” But somehow, the devil added a dangerous twist to the ugly situation, and planted an evil idea in the head of his father, who decided to sell him off, and subsequently approached the Alhaji on June 22, 2015, to consummate the intent.
While pretending to be interested in the proposal Alhaji struck a “deal” with Inyang, agreeing to “buy” the boy. With the agreement reached, he told Inyang to wait briefly for him to get to the bank and withdraw the agreed sum of N100,000. Quickly, he ran to the Police Area Commander for Akim and reported what transpired between him and Inyang.
Immediately, police detectives followed him to his office, where they arrested Inyang and took him along with his son, to the office of the Commissioner of Police. The boy recounted to the Fadairo how he had confessed to his father that he was a wizard and appealed to him for forgiveness.
The Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of the State Criminal Investigation Department, Calabar, Mr. Ganiyu Salami disclosed that the suspect had confessed that he attempted to sell his son, added that the matter was still being investigated.
The boy expressed strong desire not to be allowed to return to his father, if the police resolved to grant his father bail. The community elder, Joseph, said neighbours in the community fully concurred with the boy’s desire. Their position won over the police, who then released the boy into the custody of the father’s younger brother.
SunNews