The Police Special Fraud Unit, Ikoyi, Lagos State has arrested a
couple, Mr. Adenuga and Mrs. Elizabeth Soyibo, for allegedly
attempting to smuggle a set of twins out of Nigeria to the United
States of America.

The Soyibos were arrested by SFU, following a report from the American
Consulate on April 15 2013 that the couple, who had earlier applied
for American visas, claimed to be parents of the babies- a boy and a
girl- who they had no genetic relationship with.

The application was denied on the basis of the DNA result that
revealed that the couple lacked genetic marks which must be present in
the twins if they were the biological parents. Adenuga, who was on a
brief visit to Nigeria, also had his passport seized by the American
consulate.

Adenuga, who claimed to be an American citizen and his wife, however
faulted the report of the American consulate, insisting that they were
the biological parents of the babies.

He said, "My wife had trouble conceiving children and we were advised
to consult one Mrs. Helen Okoro in Port Harcourt. We were given herbal
drugs to take and after several months, my wife got pregnant. At the
time, I had already gone back to the United States.

"When it was time for delivery, she travelled to Port Harcourt to meet
Okoro. She was delivered of twins in Okoro's maternity home on
November 23 2012; a boy and girl.

"So you can imagine my surprise when we were told at the embassy that
the children had no genetic relationship with us. That was in
Feburary, when we went to the embassy for interview after Elizabeth's
visa application.

"That DNA test was paid for by me and I am ready to repeat the test in
any other hospital. Those children are mine."

Corroborating her husband's claims, a visibly upset Elizabeth also
insisted that the babies that the couple held during the parade were
theirs.

She said, "Just because I wanted to get pregnant, I paid N1.8m into
Okoro's Skye bank account. I have given the account number to the
police, let them conduct their investigation."

The Commissioner of Police SFU, Mr. Tunde Ogunsakin, said, "After the
consulate reported the case to us, we began investigation. SFU
detectives travelled to Port Harcourt, in a bid to locate Okoro and
verify Soyibos' claims that indeed Elizabeth had actually given birth
to the babies.

"However, on getting to Port Harcourt, Elizabeth told SFU detectives
that she could no longer identify or locate the place and that she had
no ante-natal record in any hospital as she had not attended any. The
couple could also not produce anyone else who also knew about the
conception and delivery of the babies.