Baby making ‘factory’ uncovered in Ogun state

                          

Ogun State Police Command, in western Nigeria, today discovered a “Baby Factory” where young girls have been engaged in delivering babies for sale in Akute-Ajuwon community in Ifo local government area of the State.

Eight young girls were rescued by the Police at a house on Sebanjo Crescent in Akute, also a suburb of Lagos. The police arrested Mrs Angela Chigozie and his brother-in-law, Obinna Ndunaga for interrogation at the State Police headquarters, Eleweeran, Abeokuta.

Three of the pregnant women were teenagers; they included 16-year-old Precious Steven as well as Miracle Eze and Blessing Saviour who are both 17 years old.

Others were Jeremiah Gift, 25; Joy Okoro, 20; Stella Samuel, 19; Agnes Igbo, 22 and Vivian Princewill, 20.

Conducting journalists round the ‘factory’, Friday afternoon, the State Commissioner of Police,
Ikemefuna Okoye, disclosed that babies were often sold for N300,000 each at the place.

Okoye said the young girls were “usually offered pittance after delivery and their babies taken from them and sold to unidentified people”.

The Commissioner attributed the discovery to “robust community policing” and discreet intelligence gathering by men of the State Police Command.

He, however, stated that investigation was still on-going to unravel other collaborators of the syndicate.

According to the Police boss, “When we moved in around 7am yesterday, Thursday, we couldn’t get anything. So, we left. But later we got information and we came back to the house and continued searching. We
discovered that the pregnant girls were hidden in the wardrobe.

“One of the girls kept in the wardrobe fainted and she was taken to the hospital and revived. This is inhumanity to human beings. The proprietress (Angela) of this baby factory sold each baby at N300,000
or even above. She in turn gives pittance to these young girls. If the mother delivers a stillborn, she will not get anything”, Okoye revealed.

The Proprietress of the factory claimed that her husband, now at large, rented the building from where the illicit business was transacted.

Angela, 29, who hailed from Abia State, said she started the business last year as a traditional healing home.

She, however, denied that the young girls were usually impregnated inside the house, saying some of the pregnant ladies were brought by their husbands. Others came on their own.

Also speaking, Obinna who allegedly manned the gates to the house during police raid, said he was not part of the baby-making syndicate.

He claimed that his elder brother, who travelled to the eastern part of the country on Monday, accommodated him in the house when he had financial challenges to secure an apartment in Lagos.