Abuja, Nigeria. June 23rd, 2015 – A recent poll conducted by NOIPolls Limited has revealed that about 6 in 10 Nigerians (63 percent) believe that ‘Poverty’ is the major factor responsible for the rising cases of baby factories and child trafficking in Nigeria. This is followed by the quest for quick money also identified as ‘Get-rich-quick syndrome’ (23 percent); ‘Unemployment’ (10 percent); ‘Stigma against teenage pregnancy’ and ‘Stigma against pregnancy out of wedlock’ (6 percent each) among other factors cited by Nigerians. Furthermore 78 percent of Nigerians stated that they are aware of the recent cases of baby factories in Nigeria; with the South-East geopolitical region having the highest level of awareness compared to other regions. These findings coroborates 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.[1]

More findings revealed that a larger proportion (94 percent) of respondents who were aware of child-trafficking cases, had no idea of the existence of baby factories within their locality. However, 6 percent of the respondents most especially from the South-East zone (16 percent) claimed that they were aware of a baby factory located somewhere in their locality. Consequently, almost all the respondents indicated willingness to report cases of baby factories to the appropriate authorities (96 percent), and to support new laws & legislation to eradicate baby factories & child trafficking in Nigeria (99 percent).