IGBOZURUOKE FORUM

The scourge of baby factories in Eastern Nigeria, and other parts of the country, is beyond the traditional “show of force” of the Nigeria Police.
The menace over the decades, has become a debacle of sorts, and the Nigerian government needs to tackle the root cause of the flourishing trade in human beings before the police can crush the ring.
Findings by The Southern Examiner showed that poverty is the major factor fueling the rising cases of baby factories and child trafficking in the country. It is also followed by the greed for quick money.
While the high rate of unemployment is equally a contributory factor, the stigma against teenage pregnancy as well as that against pregnancy out of wedlock are also assisting the nasty business to boom.
Since 1970, the ‘business’ has been generating income for most households in Igboland. Those who know better say the ‘business’ employs over 100,000 layers (young girls) and 1,000 cockerels (the boys) annually
It is even being argued that a continuous crackdown on the ‘trade’ in the East, without alternative means of employment, will spark a greater migration to the cities of Western Nigeria, where the layers will become commercial sex workers, and the cockerels will take to armed robbery, drugs or fraud.
Before now, a pro-democracy group, Campaign for Democracy (CD), had claimed that around 2,500 teenagers were rescued from baby factories across the South-East in a year. 
The victims, according to CD, were majorly pregnant minors, who were freed by the police and other security agencies from the various illegal orphanages where they were allegedly held captive.
In a statement, Chairman of the group in the South-East, Uzor A. Uzor, said most of the girls were allegedly enticed into the trade with monetary offers by the baby factory operators, while others were forced into the infamous trade by poverty and illiteracy.
CD noted that Abia and Imo States had the highest number of teenagers involved in the infamous trade. It attributed the increase in baby factory operations in the geopolitical zone to the high rate of youth unemployment and poverty occasioned by the failure of successive governments in the region to put adequate measures in place to empower the youths by creating meaningful employment.
“The rising cases of baby factories in the South-East is a result of the failure of the state governments in the East to create jobs for the teeming youths, especially the helpless girls who are easily lured into the trade.
“There is no other part of the country that has the problem of a baby factory. It is a peculiar case with the South-East. In Abia and Imo, about 1,800 pregnant teenagers and babies were rescued from baby factories in 12 months and the number is still rising”, CD says.
The pro-democracy group further charged the South-East governors to urgently fight the menace to secure the future of the teeming youths who are currently threatened.
“The governors in the zone should collaborate with security operatives to fish out those behind the trade and rehabilitate the rescued teenagers”, says CD.
During one of their raids, the Nigeria Police, Imo State Command, expressed worries that the issue of baby factories had taken deep root in the South-East.
“The rate is alarming in all the states. It has been there until we began the clampdown on the operators and we will continue until we rid the society of this set of people and other criminal elements”, the police said.
But, a baby factory was recently discovered in Lagos, the commercial capital of Nigeria. That tends to indicate that the scourge is yet to abate in spite of the fight by the police. 
Some of the measures put in place to curb the menace are not working yet as baby factories are proliferating. Pregnant young women are sheltered in the ‘factory’ till they give birth to babies, who are later sold or offered for spurious adoption.
The police in Lagos uncovered a baby factory in the Ikotun area. where pregnant girls, aged between 15 and 28, were rescued from a facility allegedly being operated by a mother of five children. Though she managed to escape, two of her accomplices were nabbed.
The girls were brought to Lagos mainly from the South East for the purpose of procreating for commercial purposes. Male babies are sold for N500,000 each, while the female babies are sold for N300, 000 each.
Majority of the victims were allegedly lured to Lagos with the promise that they will be employed as domestic staff. But some of them, according to an insider, walked into the baby factories themselves for economic reasons. 
This was as the police again in the mega commercial city, reportedly rescued seven pregnant ladies, aged 13 to 27, who were on their way to a baby factory in the Ikotun/Ijegun area.
It appears the aberration has remained intractable over the years. Since the first case of the menace was revealed in a report by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in 2006, baby factories have sprung up in many parts of Nigeria. 
In the report, UNESCO listed human trafficking linked to baby factories as the third commonest crime in the country, after drug trafficking and financial fraud. Baby factories in Nigeria are operated by well-organised, mafia-like syndicates.
Buildings disguised as clinics, maternity homes or orphanages become the homes of pregnant girls mostly compelled to live in such facilities where they are harassed, abused, threatened and subjected to different blood oaths. And once they are put to bed, the babies are promptly sold while the mothers get some financial compensation.
Factors such as poverty, childlessness, greed and lack of ethical behaviours among medical professionals are reportedly responsible for the rise in baby factories. It is generally believed that baby factories are designed to curb the social stigma associated with unwanted pregnancies.
The girls involved are convinced to give up their babies for some monetary rewards. Many of the female victims are young, pregnant girls suffering from debilitating poverty and who cannot afford to be single mothers.
The quest for babies by infertile couples is equally fueling the rise in baby factories. In virtually all cultures in Nigeria, biological children are an integral part of a family, and couples with no child seek to procure one or more from a baby factory.
The reluctance of childless couples to endorse adoption is a major contributor to the increasing number of baby factories. Many infertile couples can also not afford expensive reproductive procedures like in-vitro fertilisation or assisted reproduction.
There are growing concerns about the rise in baby factories, and the central government is being urged to permanently tackle the challenge. The idea of a “factory,” where babies are sold is not only immoral but also criminal.
While the police is being commended for apprehending the operators of the evil enterprise, concerned civic groups say more work should be done to curb the social malady.
There is a need for public enlightenment on the dangers of baby factories. Federal and state legislators are being pressed to enact laws to check the ugly development. There is also the need to educate young girls on how to live responsibly and prevent unwanted pregnancies. 
While the authorities are expected to embark on enlightenment campaigns on adoption for infertile couples, administrative and legal hiccups associated with adoptions should also be addressed.
Interestingly, a greater majority of Nigerians are aware of the cases of baby factories in the country, with the South-East having the highest level of awareness compared to other regions. The UNESCO findings corroborate previous findings from studies conducted by the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), which identified Nigeria as one of the major hubs for trafficking in children and women.
Viewed from another angle, a baby factory or baby farm, is a location where young girls and women are either coerced or tricked to get pregnant, have babies and give up their babies, which are later sold for adoption or sacrificed in black magic or witchcraft to prospective buyers. 
It also relates to situations where teenagers or young adults with unwanted pregnancies are lured with the offer to help them with an abortion, or in the bid to shield societal stigma and fear of their parents, look for any safe haven to get rid of such pregnancies and return to their normal life without suspicion. Hence, they end up in baby factories where they are advised to sell off their newborn babies.
However, the police on Sunday bursted a baby factory in Aba, the commercial nerve centre of Abia State. Police spokesperson Maureen Chinaka, an Assistant Superintendent of Police, made the development public in Umuahia, the state capital.
Chinaka said 16 pregnant girls, mostly teenagers- were rescued during the operation, pointing out that 13 of the rescued pregnant girls hail from Akwa Ibom State, two from Cross River State and one from Ebonyi State.
According to her, the Rapid Response Squad of the state Police Command, acting on intelligence, swung into action and made the discovery.
Five males suspected to be hired to impregnate the girls, five male and three female children were also rescued from the ‘baby factory.’ The police spokesperson identified the suspects as 29 year old, Onyinyechi Okoro, and 32 year old man, Ekene Okezie.
She said while Mrs Okoro hails from Ihechiowa community in Arochukwu Local Government Area of Abia, Okezie is from Aro-Ndizuogu, a community in Ideato North Local Government Area of Imo State.
The police spokesperson added that further discreet investigation into the development is ongoing.
Wife of Governor Alex Otti, Priscilla, has condemned the operations of the baby factory. She was speaking in Umuahia, where she expressed sadness that while the world was celebrating the International Women’s Day, some criminally-minded persons were exploiting the naivety and innocence of the girls for selfish reasons.
“I am deeply saddened by the discovery of a baby factory in Abia. On a day when the world celebrates the remarkable achievements of women, it is disheartening to know that a few individuals are working to undermine our efforts to showcase the positive contributions of Abia women.
“We vehemently condemn the existence of baby factories in Abia State, where young girls are exploited, forced into pregnancy, and have their babies forcefully taken from them for profit. This barbaric practice endangers the lives and well-being of these girls, exposing them to serious health hazards including HIV and other STDs.
“It’s evident that these nefarious individuals exploit the poor economic challenges of this vulnerable group and their lack of adequate education which exacerbates their susceptibility to manipulation.
“We are aware of the challenges confronting such vulnerable girls and young women hence our commitment to train them in skills acquisition since the inception of the present administration”, the governor’s wife said 
Adding, she assured that her office will consistently provide training opportunities for girls until they are gainfully employed and empowered to resist such temptations of giving birth for profit. She further assured of her commitment to collaborating with relevant government agencies in ensuring that those fueling abuse of Abia girls are held accountable, reminding the perpetrators and their sponsors that what they are doing is not an investment in women; but rather a destruction of womanhood, culture, and our generation.
The government, according to her, will not allow criminals to undermine the collective efforts of the government to build a decent state that would explore the talents of Abia women positively, and called on Abia citizens to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activity to the police or the Gender Based Violence office at the Office of the First Lady or the state Ministry of Women Affairs.
She also commended the state police command led by the Commissioner of Police, Kenechukwu Onwuemelie, for their swift response and professionalism which led to the rescue of the girls and arrest of some suspects.
However, sometime in June, 2022, the police in South-East rescued 35 girls aged 14 to 17 who were exploited for prostitution and ‘baby harvesting’ in a raid last week, according to a statement by Tochukwu Ikenga, the local police spokesman.
The girls were discovered in a hotel named Gally Gally in the town of Nkpor in Anambra State.Officers arrested three suspects, including two security men, while the hotel owner and the ‘Madam’, who was in charge of the facility, are on the run.
“The suspects arrested are being interrogated with a view to eliciting information on their involvement and unmasking other gang members”, Ikenga said
The girls were handed over to the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking (NAPTIP) for recovery.
“I was lured into the business by a friend who did not tell me that we would be used as prostitutes. I was told that I was coming to work as a sales girl”, one of the girls said during a press conference.
“None of us could run away because of the guards there and the heavy security around us”, she added.
In recent years, dozens of girls held in baby factories were rescued during police raids as Nigeria is notorious for its problem with baby harvesting.
Director of Amnesty International Nigeria, Osai Ojigho, says “a typical victim is a teenager who gets pregnant out of wedlock and is thrown out of home. These people promise to look after them but do not let them leave until they give birth.”
Girls from poor families are lured into the facilities with a promise of work and then forced into prostitution. If they get pregnant, the babies are taken away and sold, usually to childless couples.
According to Ojigho, this, in part, arises from inheritance laws of the Igbo people, who are a dominant ethnic group there. “Property can only be inherited by boys. If a man does not have male children, everything will go to his brothers, which might be a big loss for the family”, Ojigho said. 
While social prestige and the role of children as a safety net for old age are also important, another factor is the price of brides, one of the highest in Nigeria. “This adds to the pressure. A marriage without children can be seen as a failed investment”, the rights chief explains.
Continuing, Ojigho said, “we have very stringent adoption rules. There are long waiting lists. For couples who have been trying to have children for years, the process might seem very traumatic.”
Despite the ongoing clampdown, Ojigho remains skeptical about Nigeria’s capacity to eliminate the practice. “The problem is that the police do not consider baby harvesting a serious crime. Sometimes, there might even be some sympathy with the parents.”
As people buying the babies are typically wealthy, corruption is also a problem. “When these crooks know that the police are coming, they move on pretty quickly. If one factory is closed today, there are several others opening the next day”, says Ojigho.
Before now, the police thought they had wiped out the baby factory menace. That was until a 17-year-old was caught in a homestead where he was “assigned” to impregnate ten young women in Nigeria’s Rivers State. The boy was just a stud or a “breeder”.
The crackdown in Obio/Akpor also saw two women aged 30 and 40 arrested and 19 pregnant women rescued. Police Public Relations Officer, Grace Iringe-Koko said the suspects were arrested following a tip-off that led to the raid of the two houses where the victims of child trafficking were kept.
According to police, investigations revealed that when a victim was delivered of her baby, the syndicate leader kept the child and paid the mother N500,000. “All the victims confessed that they were lured to the illicit sale of children because of financial challenges”, the police said.
Despite the crackdown, baby factories are still thriving in Nigeria. Men are being hired to impregnate women to sire infants who are then sold off to rich families. Since they ignore adoption protocols, the authorities have labelled this human trafficking.
The trade in children is largely patronised by childless couples and sometimes people of goodwill corrupted by evil intentions for a lucrative business. It thrives in South East, South South, South West, North Central regions.
Alabi Aruna, a detective, who led a sting operation in Calabar, Cross River capital, last December, reported that operators sell babies for between N1,500,000 and N3,500,000 depending on the sex of the baby. Male children are more expensive because of the craze for sons in Nigeria.
Operators of these factories lure unsuspecting women into the business with promises of a better life, outright abduction or force.
Favour, an 18-year-old secondary school graduate, and one of the girls rescued in one of such factories located in a church in Port Harcourt said she was dumped by her boyfriend after getting pregnant.
“A woman known as Precious took me in and located me in a church where I stayed for one month and I delivered my child. They gave me an injection that induced the pregnancy. They locked me up in a room with some other girls. They sold my baby and one other for N2.5 million”, she told the police.
Loveth, one of the 23 girls rescued in Otolo, Nnewi in Anambra said, “I was lured to the house where I met other girls and I was told I would be taken abroad as house maid.
“They forced us to have sex with strange men, who impregnated the girls. Once a baby is delivered, it is taken away. We are kept in by the heavy security… I have delivered babies twice since I was held in 2018.”
The police last month, arrested a couple suspected of running illegal baby factories in Rivers, Abia, Akwa Ibom and Imo states. The wife who lives in Port Harcourt said she was introduced into the trade by a woman who is on the run.
One customer confessed to buying a boy and a girl, for N3.5 million. This is as Anthony Osaze, who has been married for 15 years, said they approached a baby home instead of an orphanage, where adoption of babies had been difficult because of the stringent requirements.
“I have been going to an orphanage in Lagos for four years without success as they do not have new babies, so I was introduced to a nursing home where I paid the money for the two babies.
“I do not know the mothers of the babies, but they were given to me at the factory and I promised to take good care of them”, Osaze said.
A social worker in Abuja, Aliu Musa, said poverty and lawlessness fuel baby factories, pointing out that the bureaucracy involved in legal adoption discourages genuine couples from following procedure.
“Many couples are restless and want to get babies fast but at orphanages, they face many hurdles and instead opt for illegal homes or baby factories where children are sold without documentation”, Musa said.
“Similarly, some ladies who get pregnant and are forsaken by their lovers to face a bleak future of single motherhood, go to baby factories where they deliver and get paid. In many cases, these ladies are forcibly detained and continue getting impregnated by hired young men.”
In collaboration with the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), the police and other security agencies have shut down 198 such homes or factories in five years.
NAPTIP, established in 2003, has directed all privately-run rehabilitation shelters and homes for trafficked persons nationwide to obtain clearance certificates within 30 days or risk being shut down.
Head of NAPTIP’s Press and Public Relations, Stella Nezan, says NAPTIP’s deadline to private shelters and rehabilitation homes expired last June, but will continuously educate the public, especially the poor, not to let off their girls on the promise of a rich life.
Last February,five pregnant girls were rescued following a raid of a baby factory by security operatives at Umunya in Oyi Local Government Area of Anambra.
The rescue efforts followed a collaboration of the state Ministry of Health and security agencies in the state. Health Commissioner, Dr. Afam Obidike said it was observed that the baby factory was functioning as a hospital but it was a base for child trafficking.
He identified the facility as ‘Mother and Child Hospital and Maternity located on a road along the Tansian University, Umunya.
“We found that some hospitals that are not registered are operating in the state. We have created data that will capture the hospitals in the state so that people will be able to have quality, good healthcare”, he said.
“Unfortunately, in one of the hospitals that we came for inspection, we found out that in our data system, they were not registered. We came here to verify and look at what is happening”, he said.
He said the facility was not registered with the state government, adding that the government that seven nurses on duty ran away. The commissioner put the ages of the victims as 14 to 21 years, stressing that Governor Charles Soludo’s administration is determined to tackle the menace
“Unfortunately, the hospital is not registered and activities are suspected to be very fraudulent. So we decided to just see the senior doctor in the hospital and all the seven nurses.
“They locked us outside. Before they opened the gate, they followed behind and ran away. Seven to eight of them ran away. We saw little girls here that are pregnant, some of them ranging from 14, 15, 16 and 21 years”, he said.
The  Southernexaminer