Nigeria: ‘Baby factory’ raided, pregnant women rescued
Sixteen-year-old mother and student in a secondary school Onyinyechi Okeowo holds her new born baby at Gbagada General Hospital in Lagos on October 31, 2011. The new baby weighed 2.9, was delivered at 11.45pm on October 30. The United Nations says the world population will hit seven billion near the end of October. The world welcomed its symbolic seven billionth baby today amid a stark warning from UN chief Ban Ki-moon of the need to tackle inequality on a planet where almost a billion people go hungry.
Police in Nigeria have raided an alleged "baby factory," where young women were thought to have been forced to bear children to be sold.
Seven women between the ages of 18 and 20, three of whom were pregnant, were freed from a home in southern Akwa Ibom state after a police tip-off, Agence France-Presse reported. No babies were discovered in the raid.
Three suspects, including the owner, his wife and an accomplice were arrested, AFP said.
"The suspects usually lure young girls to get pregnant with a promise of 70 000 naira [$445] after having their babies, which they sell to ritualists," assistant police superintendent Oyekachi Orji told AFP.
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A number of such "baby factories" have been discovered Nigeria. Babies are bought by childless couples in illegal adoptions, or are sometimes sold into forced labor and prostitution. Less commonly they are bought to be sacrificed in black magic rituals.
Last year, Nigerian police raided a so-called baby factory in the southeastern city of Aba, rescuing 32 pregnant teenage girls who were allegedly being held captive in order to have their babies bought.
The United Nations ranks human trafficking the third most common crime in Nigeria, after economic fraud and drug trafficking. It estimates that at least 10 children are sold across Nigeria each day.
At least 2.4 million people are victims of human trafficking, the UN reported.
More from GlobalPost: Nigeria: "baby factory" raided, 32 pregnant girls rescued
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