BABY HARVESTING: A New Dimension to Human Trafficking in Nigeria

By

Unongu

I commence this essay with a quote from Vanguard newspapers: "Anyone who hears about Nigeria’s baby factories would think it is government’s policy to sustain our high population. The tag creates impressions of facilities turning out babies round the clock. What elsewhere do factories do…" - Vanguard Editorial, March 31, 2014.
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Baby factories is an emerging crime in developing countries and is prevalent in some African countries especially Nigeria. The sordid illegal business revolves around pregnant women and girls who are willing to give up their new born babies for financial gain without having any contact with the buyer or ever seeing the child again. The practice where some Nigerian medical doctors engage in illegal sales of babies, taking advantage of the helplessness of pregnant women girls and the desperation of childless couples, is now recurring decimal in Nigerian society. This ugly practice which came to public knowledge sometime in 2006, has taken a more dangerous and complex form involving human trafficking alongside the illegal activities.

In its 2006 Policy Document, No. 14.2(E), titled: “Human Trafficking in Nigeria: Root Causes and Recommendations”, UNESCO made a damning revelation of the prevalence of Baby Harvesting in Nigeria. Part of the report stated thus;
"In States like Abia, Ebonyi and Lagos, many cases have been reported to clinics, doctors, nurses and orphanages that help pregnant teenagers and other women who do not want to keep their babies after birth. They care for these women during pregnancy and provide money and shelter. Upon delivery the babies are sold to couples who pay a premium for the babies of their choice. The young mothers are paid off after having signed papers repudiating their claims on the babies or swearing oaths of secrecy. Officials recently handled a case of two sisters who approached a doctor in Lagos with an offer to sell the unborn child of one of the sisters. They demanded N500,000 (about US $3875) and N300,000 (about US $ 2325) for a baby boy and baby girl respectively. Later they raised the price of a baby girl to N400,000 (about US $3100) because of “the rising cost of living.”

Teenage girls and young women are brought by traffickers to clinics and homes referred to as “baby factories” with promise of jobs, safe abortions, even money after delivery. The victims are then kept in confinement and forced to give birth. Some of the victims are trafficked while being pregnant; others are impregnated at the baby factories by men hired for that purpose. Though the “baby factory” owners insist the babies are put up for adoption by childless couples, it is believed that child labour, sexual exploitation, and even ritual are the purpose of establishing baby factories.
More so, it has been discovered that due to the craving for money, some girls have turned the criminal act into a business as they willingly get pregnant, give birth, collect money and return to the baby factories on their own after few months of delivery with new pregnancies. The media is awash with stories of young women who have ventured into the illicit practice for the purpose of making money for themselves. Investigation has revealed that the baby harvesting business has continued to boom because some owners of orphanages and homes have turned such facilities into money spinning ventures.
Usually papers are signed on the arrival of the girls that they would not be given their babies after delivery and they would be given financial compensation for their labour. The girls are kept in the home and well taken care of. More often than not, stand-by medical personnel are on hand to attend to the pregnant girls to stop them from going to other hospitals and arousing suspicion in the process.

The reasons why women become victims of baby factories varies, however, a short list of possible factors is presented below:

Poverty
Rape
Having multiple partners
Greed
Cultural and religious reasons
Peer pressure
Monetary gain
Ignorance
Voluntary participation
Rejection by family and friends
Unwanted pregnancy

Immediately after they are delivered of their babies, the girls are separated from the infants and paid between #300,000 and #500,000 for a baby girl and between #600,000 and #800,000 for a baby boy. Incidentally, investigation has equally revealed that in the Eastern part of Nigeria, known as the hub of baby harvesting, the so-called clinics, orphanages and welfare homes have a list of rich patronage ranging from desperate couples to politicians and business moguls. Most of those on the list are made to pay about #100,000 just to register. It is equally reported that the client pay between #1million and #2.5million for a baby girl, while a baby boy goes for between #3million and #5million, depending on the financial capabilities of the client.

If you have wondered what happens to babies and children sold in baby factories, then do not wonder any further. The babies might be illegally adopted or might end up being used for sinister purposes some of which are:

Sold for Adoption
Sold to be used for black magic
Sold for Ritual purposes
Sold as domestic help
Sold into slavery
Sold into prostitution
Sold to human trafficking gangs
Sold into sex slavery

Human traffickers are quite responsive to demand, prompting them to create new criminal schemes. Since it was first reported, baby harvesting in Nigeria has taken a more dangerous and complex form involving human trafficking alongside other illegal activities.

There is no gain saying the fact that baby harvesting constitute a serious crime of human trafficking that should conveniently lead to prosecution by relevant Law Enforcement Authorities, the Police, NAPTIP, and NSCDC. I am strongly against the opinion that baby harvesting merely violate child adoption rules in Nigeria.

To this end, the Federal Government of Nigeria should, as a matter of priority, re-enact laws that will seek to prosecute offenders of this ugly malaise with strict penalties that would serve as a deterrent to others contemplating the same crime. Offenders, when apprehended, should be publicly announced by the media before being sent to jail where they belong. The Federal Government of Nigeria, through it Law Enforcement apparatus, should develop a veritable programme that will serve to collect, assess and maintain a database of all orphanages, motherless homes, clinics, and other welfare homes. This will help in the provision of credible intelligence via constant inspections and review of activities and practice. The general public is not left out on the fight against these baby factories. We should all strive to report crimes to the Law Enforcement Authorities. With the advent of the internet ans social media, the fear of walking to a police station to report a crime is nearly non-existent. A crime can easily be reported with ease by just employing your facebook application, or, even nairaland because these are open sources of intelligence to the Law Enforcement Agents.

In conclusion, baby harvesting is a criminal act that contains all the constituent elements of the crime of human trafficking; recruitment, harboring, receipt of persons, transfer of persons, by the use of fraud, use of force, deceit, for the purpose of exploitation. All hands must be on deck to stem the growth of this nausea.

There is just no limit to what people can for the love of money. The sacredness of life has now been relegated to the background, so much so that, human life itself is now equated with that of a cocroach by some. Those that perpetrate the crime of baby harvesting should be treated as terrorists. Because I don't see any difference between them and BH.

moderator, this should be in Front page, please. Nairalanders need to be educated some of these vices.