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A 36-YEAR-old woman, Martha Abangre, who is being held by police in Bolgatanga for allegedly stealing a baby, has confessed that indeed the baby girl she was seen with on the day of her arrest was not her biological child and that she paid GH�360 to buy her from her mother. She said she bought the nearly two-month-old baby from a Moshie woman who slept with the child along a railway line in Accra and had even attempted to abandon the child. Narrating the incident to journalists in Bolgatanga, the Upper East Regional Police Commander, ACP Bright Oduro, said Martha Abangre, a trader, was arrested on May, 18, 2011 upon a tip-off from a neighbour who suspected that she had stolen a baby. The informant�s suspicion arose because she had not seen Martha pregnant, prior to seeing her with the baby. The police followed up and invited the suspect for questioning, where she insisted she had delivered the baby in Burkina-Faso. As part of investigations by the police to ascertain the truth, the accused was taken to the regional hospital in Bolgatanga, where a certified gynaecologist detected that Martha Abangre could not become pregnant. According to the police commander, the alleged �Serial Baby Thief� had, after therevelation, told police that she got the baby from a woman in Burkina-Faso, after she had paid an amount of GH�360; but a day later, Martha changed her statement, saying she got the baby from a woman in Accra. �After getting this information from the hospital, police became curious and wanted toknow whether Martha�s other 9-year-old �daughter� was indeed her biological child. After interrogating her and other people, we realized that the girl was not her child either and that she might have stolen her too. Her former husband, 62-year-old Asakeya Adongo, told the police that he did not know where Martha got the girl from because he did not impregnate her,� ACP Oduro said. According to Asakeya Adongo, he had to divorce Martha 10 years ago after she brought a baby girl into their matrimonial home and refused to tell him or any of her family members, where she got the baby from. That baby girl is now nine, and in class two. The police commander said the accused would be taken to court based on information she has given to the police. He however called on the public to alert police on any abnormal or illegal thing they saw since that was the only way they could obtain such information. The latest baby girl, currently at the Anglican Babies Home, brings to three, the number of baby girls that Martha has allegedly stolen. The first was the 9-year-old girl who she was living with at the time of her arrest.There are also reports of another baby girl who she brought into her home some three years ago but died six months after staying with her. The current one is the third baby girl Martha has been seen with by neighbors since she was divorced by her husband. Martha Abangre told DAILY GUIDE she was aware she could not become pregnant as a result of a surgery she underwent following a complication she had with a pregnancy some years ago. �I was told of the consequences of removing my womb to save my life, but I did not mind because I had to save my life first. I have been content with my situation until after my marriage. �I could not bear a child for my husband and people started complaining and ridiculing me anywhere I went. It was a serious problem for me and very difficult for me to accommodate. So I had to tell some of my close friends about my inability to become pregnant,� Martha said. She explained that one day, her friend who had a baby girl came to her and �dashed her� the baby and asked her not to tell anyone about the baby girl because she did not want a white man who had come to marry her to know that she had a child. Martha took the child home some 10 years ago, which led to her dismissal from her matrimonial home. �Recently when I went to Accra to trade, I met a friend called Adwoa who told me that my friend Agie, who gave me my first daughter, had called to inform her about my inability to become pregnant and that she Agie was coming back for her daughter. My brother, I felt as though my world had come to an end because if she came for her daughter, I did not know what I was going to tell people. Then Adwoa, who now knows my problem, suggested that there was a Moshie woman sleeping along a railway line that has delivered a baby girl but finds it difficult to feed herself and the baby and so I should convince her to sell the baby to me,� Martha narrated. Martha said she approached the woman and they started bargaining from GH�400 for the child. Finally, they ended at GH�360, and the baby girl was given to her. �We promised ourselves to keep this secret to the grave and so I left and came to Bolgatanga with the hope that even if my friend Agie comes for her nine-year-old girl, I will have this new one to myself. I did not know that I will be arrested by the police. My intention was to get a child I can take care of and train to become my own in future. I had no bad intention about these children. If I had, I wouldn�t work hard under harsh conditions to raise one for nine years and take her to school. I wanted people to stop insulting me and calling me a barren woman.� The Upper East Regional Police Commander has however assured that investigations will continue even if police have to use scientific means to trace the true parents of the two children.