My Nigeria…

Good job to all those involved in bringing an end to this shameless business. I understand that times are hard, but to use human being as breeders, is beyond immoral.

From the Times:

Posted by Naija Pundit

NEIGHBOURS were suspicious of the daytime silence at the maternity clinic, which came to life only at night.

But recent police raids have revealed what is believed to be a network of clinics in Nigeria that bred babies for sale.

At the hospital in Enugu, in Nigeria’s southeast, 20 teenage girls were rescued in May in a police swoop on what was believed to be one of the largest infant trafficking rings in the west African country.

The gynaecologist in charge, who is in his 50s and is now on trial, reportedly lured teenagers with unwanted pregnancies by offering to help with abortions.

They were allegedly locked up in the hospital until they gave birth, then forced to give up their babies for a token fee of 20 000 naira ( R1800).

The babies would be sold for anything between 300 000 and 450 000 Naira, according to the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, a state agency fighting human trafficking in Nigeria.

But the doctor’s luck ran out when a woman to whom he had sold a day-old infant was caught by Nigeria’s security police while trying to smuggle it to Lagos.

Anti-trafficking campaigners say the practice is widespread and is run by powerful criminal syndicates.

Ijeoma Okoronkwo, head of the anti-trafficking agency, said: “The first indication came in December 2006, when an NGO raised the alarm and said a number of hospitals were involved.”