Enugu baby factory mothers: A trafficking ring of government officials, policemen, rogue doctors stole our babies, jailed us

•Government: We don’ t steal babies , we are ready to return their babies

In the last few years in Enugu State, baby factories have been busted by law enforcement agencies, but SUNDAY PUNCH investigation reveals that government officials in Enugu State are neck – deep in a baby trafficking syndicate , BAYO AKINLOYE writes

Clang ! The worn, sturdy iron door ominously closed behind her as she was led out of a dinghy cell by a female prison official . As she trudged across a coarse field where male inmates were playing football , her head remained bowed like someone being led to the gallows.

With a foreboding façade, the prison houses 1 , 994 inmates; 58 of them are females , and one of them is Chijindu Nworie.

For more than a year, 22 -year -old Nworie has been held behind bars – against her will – at the Enugu State Prison . Seating with a forlorn look inside the prison yard, the dark – complexioned woman told our correspondent about her descent from a maternity home into prison.

Nworie was working as a salesgirl when she got pregnant for her boyfriend. Out of shame and fear, she said she ran away from her uncle ’ s home , Uchenna Nworie , who is now based in Cote d’ Ivoire.

“ While looking for a clinic to take care of my pregnancy I was directed to Moonlight Hospital. There , I was introduced to a doctor; his name is Dr . Ozor Akpudachie . At that clinic I also met two other girls: Miracle Onwe and Ajie Chigozie , ” she stated.

The number of baby factories – the name given to homes where pregnant girls are kept and their babies trafficked upon delivery – has been on the rise . Even though statistics on the number of baby factories busted by the police are not available , the reports of such raids are seen in newspapers almost on a regular basis.

The United Nations Protocol on Trafficking describes trafficking in humans as “all acts related to recruitment , transport , sale or purchase of individuals through force, fraud or other coercive means , for the purpose of exploitation . ”

An estimated 12 million people are living in slavery worldwide , and about 700,000 persons are trafficked across various international borders , including Nigeria , annually.

In Nigeria, there is no reliable estimate of the number of children trafficked. According to the current Trafficking in Persons Report , published annually by the United States Government , Nigeria is a source , transit , and destination country for women and children subjected to forced labour and sex trafficking .

Bowed but not broken

Po – faced and embittered by her continued stay in prison , Nworie recalled how she and her mates were arrested by a gang of policemen and officials of the Enugu State Ministry of Gender Affairs and Social Development .

She and three other girls – who were also pregnant – were arrested on January 13, 2016.

“ The police and the Gender Affairs people lied to us that they were trying to rescue us from the hands of Dr. Akpudachie . They said the doctor wanted to steal our babies after we might have given birth . They raided the place around 2 pm . But they later accused us of trying to sell our babies.

“ We were taken to their office and later to a hospital at 9th Mile. I was eight months pregnant at the time. I was locked up in a room in the hospital for almost a month . I screamed and kicked that I didn’ t want to stay there, that I wanted to go home and deliver my baby where my family was . They didn’ t listen to me . I got tired and had to give birth there. I was delivered of a boy, ” she said.

Nworie further told SUNDAY PUNCH how she and the other girls were browbeaten and manhandled by the police and officials of the ministry , in a bid to cow them into submission with the ultimate aim of making them to give up their babies after they had given birth.

“ I was seven months pregnant at the time of my remand on January 30, 2016. On February 12, 2016, we were taken to court again and were released on bail to Dr. Akpudachie , who was also charged to court along with his wife . The judge wrote something on a paper and gave the prison officials who brought us to court.

Thereafter , we were handed over to Gender Affairs people . They went with us to the prison to pick our things.

“ Later, the four of us – Chigozie Ajie , Miracle Onwe , Emmanuella Nwedu and I – were divided into two groups. Chigozie and I were taken to Our Saviour Medical Centre at 9 th Mile by Gender Affairs . It was when I was brought back to prison along with Emmanuella that I learnt she had been taken to Ndubuisi Hospital and Maternity , ” Nworie narrated , betraying no emotion .
On March 15, 2016 , she was delivered of a baby boy.

She added , “ After I had given birth to my baby, they took him away . The Gender Affairs people said I should sign a document, collect N50,000 and forget about the baby. I said I didn’ t want any money that it was my baby that I wanted.

The doctor of the hospital promised to give me additional N 50, 000 but I rejected it . I was manhandled and threatened . They said I was going to be in prison for 10 years. I told them that it was okay as long as I had my baby. ”

Nworie stated that when her older sister, Loveth, heard about her situation and visited the hospital , she was made to wait for hours without seeing her or the doctor. Having nowhere to sleep , she went back home and returned the following day.

The next day, SUNDAY PUNCH learnt that her sister was again prevented from seeing the new mother . As it was getting late in the night , she went to 9 th Mile police station and made a complaint.
A policeman was reportedly assigned to follow her to the hospital.

“When they (older Nworie and the policeman) reached the clinic, the hospital management called in officials of the ministry and a policewoman from the state Criminal Investigation Department, Police Headquarters Enugu . Nworie was taken away and detained in the CID cell for three days, ” the President of Civil Rights Realisation and Advancement Network , Olu Omotayo , who is also a counsel to Nworie and Nwedu, told our correspondent.

The police then arraigned her again before the magistrate court. At the order of the court, the two girls were , on April 1 , 2016, sent back to jail.

Time in jail has not weakened the young lady ’s resolve to have her baby back . As she sat across an age – old low prison table, opposite our correspondent, she appeared determined to spend a decade in prison waiting to be reunited with her baby.

“ The police and Gender Affairs people are angry with me because I refused their money. They asked me to sign a form that I was giving up my baby for adoption. I refused . Then, they gave me another form to sign that I want to keep my baby; I signed that form. I don’t want any money. It’s my baby I want, ” she simply said.

Like Nworie, like Nwedu

Nwedu’ s story is similar to Nworie ’ s . Though granted bail on May 8 , she said her release from jail will not be complete until she ’ s reunited with her baby girl.

Few days after coming out of jail, she met with our correspondent on the premises of Enugu East magistrates ’ court, sharing her sordid story.

•Ndubuisi Hospital and Maternity

She had her baby girl on March 12, 2016 , at Ndubuisi Hospital and Maternity .
Narrating how she and other girls were arrested, 23- year – old Nwedu said , “A co – worker , Chisom Ede, suggested to me to go to Moonlight so that a doctor could help me to take proper care of my pregnancy . The four of us were staying in the clinic which we went to at various times in December 2015 , until the place was raided in January 2016 by the police . ”
Wearied and almost inaudible , the girl sobbed intermittently as she told her story. At times she paused , lost in thought and finding it difficult to properly recall the sequence of the twists and turns that accompanied her being pregnant and seeking care in a maternity home .
“ They offered me N 50, 000 but I rejected it . I told them I had suffered enough and would not sell my baby or give her up for adoption. Even if they had offered me N 10m , I would still not have accepted . I told them all I wanted is my baby . They were angry with me ; the Gender Affairs people .
“ I was asked to sign a form saying that I didn’ t want the baby. I said ‘ no’ that I want to keep my child . They now said , ‘ OK ’ I should sign a form that I didn’ t want my baby to be taken away from me . Before then, they were threatening that I will rot in jail if I didn’ t collect the money they had offered me . They said I would spend 10 years in prison. I told them I was willing to go to jail as long as my baby is with me , ” she narrated .
The fire – and- brimstone approach of the police and Gender Affairs worked in the case of Ajie and Onwe , as the two imprisoned girls told our correspondent – they gave up their babies for a paltry sum of N 50, 000 each .
In recalling their ordeals , Nworie and Nwedu accused the hospitals where they gave birth , the police and Gender Affairs of connivance .
At the moment , the girls are expecting the state government , the National Human Rights Commission, the National Agency for the Prosecution of Trafficking in Persons and the police to help them to get justice .
Incidentally , in September 2015 , as a sign of intent to tackle the menace of child trafficking under the guise of adoption in Enugu State , Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi inaugurated a committee to ensure that the racket – hit baby adoption process in Enugu does not become a full – blown trafficking network that is now headquartered in one of the government ’ s ministries – the Gender Affairs.

“ While we acknowledge the right and the necessity for childless or benevolent couples to adopt motherless children and orphans , we believe that there is the need for strict compliance with due process , ” Ugwuanyi had said.

Although several allegations of baby trafficking have been levelled against the ministry under her watch , the Commissioner for Gender Affairs and Social Development , Mrs . Peace Ngwu, denied any foul play.

“ None of those accusations are true, ” Ngwu declared , refuting the claim that there is a racket involving her ministry , the police , the magistrate court and some select hospitals in the state.

She added , “ My ministry is an organisation of repute . We don’ t want a situation whereby young girls will come here for help and we’ ll refuse to do so because of this development . We only helped the girls out of prison to give birth. It was the police that charged them to court.

Their babies are not sold . They are being taken care of in a government facility. If the police have facility to put the girls and their babies , let the police come and take the babies . ”

Ogor , who refused to give her last name , is an assistant director in the ministry . The girls accused her of playing a prominent role in the events that led to the abduction of their babies . However, Ogor told our correspondent that she had done nothing wrong . But she also gave a pointer to the whereabouts of the baby when she said they had been given up for adoption.

She said , “I met them on the instruction of the ministry . But there was never a time I forced them to do anything they didn’ t want to do or manhandled them. I didn’ t force them to give up their babies. I didn’ t go to that extent . Ask the Commissioner for Gender Affairs who put up their babies for adoption.

“ I don’ t have anything to do with forcing the babies out of the hands of their mothers. Everything I did concerning the girls was properly documented . I have my documents. I did not force any of the girls to give up their babies. ”