For the second time in a barely a week,the police today raided a 'baby factory' in Enugu and rescued six pregnant teenagers from the coerced selling of their newborns. This time, three suspects were arrested, unlike in the previous case where the madam is still on the run. According to AFP;
Nigerian police on Wednesday said they had found six pregnant teenage girls in a raid on a house and arrested three people suspected of planning to sell their babies. It was the second so-called baby-factory uncovered in a week in the west African nation.
"We acted on intelligence information and raided the house in Enugu (city) where we met six girls, under 17 and all pregnant, and freed them," police spokesman Ebere Amaraizu in southeastern Enugu state told AFP.
He said two men and a woman believed to be operating a child trafficking ring were arrested during the raid on Monday and were cooperating with police. Amaraizu said the girls had been "lured into the house with a promise of some money after" delivering a child.
"Investigation will unravel the details. We have to know how they came about the pregnancy and where they came from," he said.
Monday's raid came five days after police in nearby Imo State freed 17 pregnant girls and 11 small children from a home in the town of Umuaka. The girls, aged between 14 and 17, told police that they had been impregnated by a 23-year-old man who is currently in custody. The owner of the building is on the run.
Nigerian police have uncovered a series of alleged baby factories in recent years, notably in the southeastern part of the country, but the intended buyers of the children have not been established.
That last sentence is at the bottom of why this kind of story will always be in the news. There is a demand for these babies, and in most cases, that demand is 'kind of' genuine. I've been thinking about this issue a lot more since the last story broke, about the same time as a couple who failed a DNA test to bring their twins to America after the wife allegedly had them in Nigeria.
So what are the reasons that I think make these "baby factories" so prevalent? And why do I think more will be found? Below are the core issues, and they are all cultural/traditional taboos or stigmas;
1. Taboo against proper sex education for teenagers
2. Stigma against teenage pregnancy or any pregnancy out of wedlock
3. Stigma against infertility among couples
4. Stigma against babies born outside a marriage
5. Taboo against open and legal adoption
You re right about the core issues behind these factories.
ReplyDeletePoverty isn't far off too. The owners of such places prey on that.
Its sooo wrong to put the faces of the victims out there. If they re indeed 14-17 that's what they re. Underage victims who should be protected knowing how unkind our society is - not paraded and lined like the criminals.
It is sad and as said above - not far from poverty. Every girl knows that her private part is private but when poverty comes knocking, it becomes a case of 'use what you have to get what you want'. The girls may have been dis-virgined in this process and some may have the backing of the parent(s). Sex education and poverty reduction programs for young girls should be intensified. I feel so sad and heavy
ReplyDelete