The search for the fruit of the
womb has driven many women
to take extreme steps.
When women are unable to
conceive and bear children, the
huge psychological toll makes
them fall prey to fraudulent
people and patrons of ‘baby
factories’.
Desope Cecilia, 61, and Joy Ibe,
43, were among victims of a
midwife, Oby George, who
promised them ‘miracle’ twins
and triplets respectively.
While the midwife was being
paraded before journalists at the
Lagos State Police Command,
Ikeja, on Friday, the victims told
their stories, with faces covered
for security reasons.
Cecilia said she had not been able
to give her 78-year-old husband
a child since they got married.
She stated, “A lady who knew I
had tried to conceive without
success for a long time, told me
about the midwife (George). The
lady gave me the phone number
of the woman and I learnt her
clinic is in Port Harcourt.
“When I got there in March 2012,
she explained to me that she
would be able to treat me with
herbs and I would get pregnant.
I was told to pay N1.5m, which I
paid to her.
“She gave me some herbs to
take back to Lagos with me and
take for nine months. I took the
herbs religiously. My tummy
began to swell, and my feet too.
Those were the only signs I had
that made me think I was
pregnant.”
Cecilia explained that George
forbade her from going for any
form of ante-natal session or
scan.
So, within the nine-month period
that her tummy protruded like
that of a pregnant woman, she
visited no hospital.
“The midwife told me not to go
for any scan or ante-natal care.
She told me that if I did, they
would not see anything because
what I was carrying was a
‘miracle’ pregnancy,” she said.
Asked if she ever saw any sign
associated like lactation during
the period, Cecillia said she never
knew it was a fake pregnancy.
“I thought it was normal. Since
my belly was growing bigger
and my feet swell up, I thought I
was indeed pregnant,” she said.
In her ninth month, Cecilia
embarked on her delivery
journey to the house used by
George as clinic for her ‘miracle
deliveries’ in Omiagbo, Port
Harcourt, Rivers State.
When she arrived the house, the
midwife prepared her for
delivery with another round of
concoctions.
“She also gave me a strange
seed. I don’t know what it is
called. When I chewed the seeds,
I had to go to the toilet for bowel
movement. She also gave me a
drug that made me very tired.
“I was laid on a bed after that.
The midwife asked me to start
pushing. I began to push really
hard. I was half-conscious.
Suddenly, I heard the cry of a
baby, then another.”
Cecilia said she left George’s
clinic, thinking she had indeed
been blessed with ‘miracle twins’.
Police Public Relations Officer,
Lagos State Command, Ngozi
Braide, told journalists that on
April 16, 2013, Cecilia took the
twins for immunisation at the
Amuwo Odofin Health Centre,
Lagos.
“But the medical officials at the
centre were suspicious that
Cecilia was not the biological
mother of the twins. They then
alerted the Area A Police
Command. During investigation,
she told the police that they
were ‘miracle babies’.
“Our men got the address of the
midwife and went to Port
Harcourt, where she was
arrested. Investigation still
continues to ensure we
apprehend other members of
her cartel. The twins are
currently with the SOS Children’s
Village, Isolo,” Braide said.
Our correspondent learnt that
the second victim (Ibe) was
found in George’s house when
the police got there.
In Ibe’s case, she wanted triplets.
For that, she had to pay N2.7m to
George for the babies.
Like Cecilia, Ibe was referred to
George by a friend. She
contacted the midwife few
months after Cecilia did.
“After I went to Port Harcourt to
meet the midwife, I paid the
N2.7m and I was given some
herbs which I drank as
concoction regularly.
“My belly began to grow and my
feet became swollen too. The
midwife told me not to go to the
hospital for scan or any ante-
natal. I went to Port Harcourt to
ask when I would be due for
delivery.
“She told me I was not due yet.
Since it was too late to go back
to Lagos, I slept over at her
house. It was when I was there
that police came to arrest her.”
No one could have doubted that
both Ibe and Cecilia were
pregnant as both women
appeared with swollen tummies
and feet.
George said her business was
“helping women who want to
get pregnant.”
She told journalists, “I am 50
years old. I have been doing this
business for over a year. In the
case of the other woman (Cecilia)
, I was not the one who
provided the babies.
“Helen Okoro, who introduced
her to me, was the one who
brought the twins and we made
it look like she was the one who
delivered them. It is true I
collected N1.5m from her and
N2.7m from the other woman.
“The herb I give them was to
induce the swollen tummies and
feet. Helen Okoro has run away
now.”
But George dodged questions as
she was being interviewed by
journalists.
When asked about the name of
the herbs and seeds she gave to
her customers, she replied, “I
don’t know.”
Asked how many of such
women she had ever ‘delivered’,
she answered, “I cannot
remember.”
Curiously, Cecilia said she was
bleeding like a freshly delivered
mother during her ‘delivery’.
George provided a frightening
insight into how this was made
possible.
“When we asked her to push, we
used a blade to cut part of her
private part, so that she would
bleed,” she said.
George denied knowledge of
where the babies given to Cecilia
came from. She said Okoro was
responsible for that part of the
deal.
This case is coming on the heels
of the recent discovery of some
baby factories in Abia and Enugu
recently.
The police have yet to confirm if
the babies involved in this case
were bought from one of such
factories.

sign of the end time