Poilce rescues pregnant girls from
‘baby factory’
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April 13, 2012 | 12:25 pm
News
LAGOS (AFP) – The Nigerian police have
raided an alleged illegal orphanage
where they rescued young women
thought to have been forced to bear
children with the aim of selling them, a
spokesman said Friday.
“We discovered the baby factory in
Uruah local government area of the state
during a raid following a tip-off,”
assistant police superintendent Oyekachi
Orji told AFP of the operation in southern
Akwa Ibom state.
He said seven women between the ages
of 18 and 20, including three who were
pregnant, were freed from the home
during the April 4 operation. No babies
were discovered.
Three suspects including the owner, his
wife and another accomplice were
arrested, he said.
“The suspects usually lure young girls to
get pregnant with a promise of 70,000
naira (340 euros, $445) after having
their babies, which they sell to ritualists,”
he said.
A number of such “factories” have been
discovered Nigeria, often intending to
sell children to childless couples.
Human trafficking is widespread in west
Africa, where children are bought from
their families to work in plantations,
mines and factories or as domestic help.
Others are sold into prostitution, and
less commonly they are tortured or
sacrificed in black magic rituals.