THE
discovery of a baby-making factory in Aba, the commercial hub of Abia
State, by officials of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps,
early this month, draws attention to the nagging problem of the chilling
child trafficking rings in the country. The existence of illegal baby
markets, where infants are auctioned off to the highest bidder, is an
evil that must be stopped. It is estimated that about 27 million people
are trafficked worldwide annually, generating $32 billion in illegal
profits, which makes it the fastest-growing black market in the world.
According to a 2011 UNESCO report, human trafficking is ranked the third
most common crime in Nigeria – after financial fraud and drug
trafficking. The United Nations says at least 10 children are illegally
sold every day across the country and the traffickers are seldom caught.
The loss of societal values and the
quest for materialism, which breed such depravity, should be a matter of
concern to all men and women of good conscience. According to media
reports, an orphanage located at Umuozuo, Osisioma Local Government
Area, has metamorphosed into a camp where young girls are assembled and
impregnated. It now houses 32 pregnant ladies, whose babies are sold
upon delivery. The widely published photograph of the scene also showed
two male accomplices.
A female teenage worker at the cruel
fortress gave a crispy narrative of the baby trafficking ring thus: “Our
madam is detained in Umuahia by men of the civil defence. She is
innocent as she is only assisting childless couples from Lagos, Abuja
and Port Harcourt by selling male and female babies at an agreed fee.
Thus, she settles the mother of the baby and takes the balance of the
money. Here, a male child is sold for N450, 000, while a female attracts
N400, 000. A teenage mother is paid N100, 000 if she is delivered of a
baby boy, while N80, 000 is the reward for a mother whose child is a
female.” This is a clear indictment of our security agencies and other
organs of state with powers of oversight on such institutions.
The proprietress of the camp, one
Nnenna, is said to have a policeman as husband. If this is so, could it
be him that had been providing her with security? According to the young
lady familiar with the centre’s operations, visitors are not allowed in
except clients who come for business or teenage girls who desire to
sell their babies. But can such an illegal commune exist at Osisioma, a
stronghold of the police, without their knowledge? The Divisional Police
Officer in charge of Osisioma owes the state some explanations.
There is a possibility that not all the
babies procured from the centre are adopted by childless couples; some
may have ended up as victims of ritual murder. Otherwise, why would
purported childless couples prefer an orphanage that sells babies to
patronising many others brimming with children waiting for legitimate
adoption? A media report indicated that one Onyekachi Ekelum, a father
aged 26, sold his six-month-old boy for N350, 000 just to get the cash
to procure a visa to Greece. Fortunately, he was not lucky as his wife
aborted the beastly act by reporting the matter to the police and the
innocent baby was rescued.
It seems the Aba-Umuahia area houses an
established cartel for selling babies, which even involves medical
doctors and nurses. In the same Aba, the police once raided an alleged
“baby farm” where teenage mothers were forced to give up their newborns
for sale to human traffickers in 2011. At least 32 pregnant girls were
rescued and security agents arrested the proprietor. The Abia State
Commissioner of Police, Usman Abubakar, has confirmed the boom in the
illicit trade within the zone. He named a doctor at Amoji in Isiala Ngwa
North and a nurse at Isiala Ngwa South as kingpins of the trade. Not a
few times, medical personnel have entangled themselves in this
dehumanising deal, which is clearly an abuse of trust by those whose
duty it is to save life.
What the baby-making factory in Aba
suggests is the inadequacy of existing legislative and policy frameworks
to deal with the scourge. Section 4 of the National Agency for the
Prohibition of Traffic in Persons Act 2003, empowers it, “To coordinate
all laws on trafficking in persons and related offences.” Part of
NAPTIP’s modest success was the rescue of 4,810 females trafficked
between 2004 and 2012 and another 1,750 males. Much needs to be done as
about 45,000 Nigerian girls are still trafficked to Europe annually as
sex workers.
One of the ways to stop the supply and
hold traffickers accountable is to educate law enforcement agents and
the public on how to identify trafficking victims and their captors.
Another is to reduce the demand by making it difficult for people to
adopt from the black market. The full weight of the law should come down
hard on the baby-selling syndicates. Tougher laws targeting those who
buy our children are necessary. The National Assembly must act now by
strengthening the law to provide severe punishment for any culprit, as
envisaged in a draft bill sent by the Federal Government to the
parliament.
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