Nigerian police have raided a home in
the southeastern state of Abia where 19 pregnant women were staying with the
intent of selling their newborn babies.
Police suspect the owner of the house
is a broker in a child trafficking ring, police spokesman Geoffrey
Ogbonna said on Friday.
"The proprietress fled before
our men got to the place," Ogbonna said. "We met her son and
his wife. They are in custody."
The 19 mothers-to-be, between the
ages of 15 and 23, were rescued at various stages of pregnancy, Ogbonna
told the AFP news agency.
Friday's discovery of the so-called baby factory in the capital of Umuahia
was only the latest in what has become a human trafficking epidemic in
southeast Nigeria.
A series of black market maternity
homes, that take a portion of the profit for the sale of each child, were
discovered over the past year.
In most cases, these homes provide an
escape from the stigma of conceiving a child outside of marriage.
Common crime
Some of the women told police that
they "ran from home to escape the stigma of having
unwanted pregnancies they cannot take care of", Ogbonna said.
But other reports suggest some women
have been kidnapped and forcibly impregnated by traffickers. Though
police think these cases are extremely rare.
Buyers are mostly couples who are
unable to have their own children. Male babies fetch more money than female
babies.
"Couples looking for children
should go through the legal adoption process," Ogbonna said.
It is illegal to buy or sell children
in Nigeria. Human trafficking, including the selling of children, is the
third most common crime after fraud and drug trafficking, according to the
United Nations.
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