From PAUL OSUYI, Asaba
A maternity where newborn babies are sold to wealthy couples has been discovered in Asaba, the Delta State capital.
The police in collaboration with local vigilance group recently raided the storey building located in Oduke, a sparsely populated area of Okwe community in the metropolis.
Three pregnant women and a suspected member of the syndicate were apprehended during the raid.
The Delta State Police Command spokesman, DSP Charles Muka, who confirmed the arrest, did not give further details.
Muka said: “We have three pregnant women and an advanced woman in our custody, they are at the Area Command.”
He added that the matter was still under investigation.
Investigation by the Daily Sun however revealed that the racket had been going on for some years at the maternity (name withheld), which was formerly managed by a medical doctor, who was said to have died in a motor accident.
The new managers were said to have turned the facility into a haven of the illicit trade, disguising it as a maternity to cover their track from the prying eyes of the public.
It was gathered that unmarried but pregnant young ladies who had been jilted by their lovers found solace in the hands of the managers of the maternity who lured them with a promise of N50,000 after giving birth to the baby.
“The expectant mothers are closely monitored by the supervisors so that they will not escape from the custody. They give them (pregnant girls) daily meals and nurses come here to give them ante-natal care,” a source said.
“We were surprised that such a thing was going on here. We thought it was just a maternity where medical attention is given to pregnant women until the police came here last weekend to expose the illicit trade,” he added.
Besides, another source said the maternity “is host to all sorts of men who come there under the cover of night to have free and unprotected sex with the pregnant ladies, apparently to nurture the foetus.
And after giving birth, the ladies are allowed to go back to re-unite with the larger society with the N50,000 gratification.
The baby racketeering syndicate, it was learnt, had network with a doctor based in Upper Iweka, Onitsha in Anambra State, whose duty was to distribute the babies to potential buyers at the rate of N250,000, irrespective of the baby’s sex.
http://sunnewsonline.com/new/national/baby-factory-uncovered-in-delta/
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