Scores of pregnant teens could face charges after being accused of planning to sell their babies. About thirty-two girls aged between 15 and 18 years were arrested during the raid of an illegal clinic in Aba in Abia State last Saturday, a police source said, adding that it is believed the children were to be trafficked.
The director of the clinic where the girls were taken from, the Cross Foundation, also known as Heda Clinic, was also arrested. The police accused him of buying the babies from young mothers and selling them to childless couples. He denied the charge and claimed to be a volunteer doctor who delivers the unwanted babies, placing them in orphanages.
Abia State Police Commissioner Bala Hassan, said: “One of the girls told us that mothers sell their babies for about N30,000.” The babies can then be resold for up to a million naira depending on their gender, added Arinze Orakwe, spokesman of the National Agency for Prohibition of Traffic in Persons (NAPTIP). Traditionally, boys are preferred, as they can inherit land according to Igbo culture.
The girls were first taken to a police station, and then to a shelter in the city of Enugu run by NAPTIP for interrogation. Authorities said they suspect most of the girls were impregnated by boyfriends, but said they are also investigating the possibility that some were forced or tricked into having babies.
Orakwue, speaking to Weekly Trust said NAPTIP had taken possession of the children and teenagers that were in the hospital and the supposed owner of the hospital has been picked up for questioning.
Orakwue also stated that the trend of ‘baby factories’ is a common trend in the South-Eastern part of the country and the organization is looking at ways to set organize a stakeholders forum on the growing negative trend. The forum he says will include the Ministry of Women Affairs, Ministry of Health and parents. NAPTIP said the absence of paperwork for the children means anything can happen to them.
When Weekly Trust asked about the welfare of the teenage girls that were rescued, he said: “Two of the 32 teenage girls have put to bed, but as you know, we cannot keep newborn babies with us, so they were transferred where the best and appropriate care would be given to them.” He added that all hands must be put on deck to checkmate the illegal adoption operations.
Regional NAPTIP head, Ijeoma Okoronkwo had earlier said: “We have so many cases going on in court right now.” Three years ago, police raids revealed a network of such clinics, dubbed baby ‘farms’ or ‘factories.’ She added that there is a problem of illicit adoption. “And people do not know the right way to adopt children.”
Orakwue, on stigma that might follow the young mothers: “The girls feel that they have brought a burden onto their families and themselves and want to get it over with. We are also calling on parents to find better ways to deal with the issue rather than stigmatize these young girls. These things happen. So long as the stigma is there, people will run away from home.”
Child trafficking carries a penalty of 14 years to life imprisonment. According to UNESCO, human trafficking is ranked the third most common crime after economic fraud and drug trafficking in Nigeria.
INYAMIRI WAHALA
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