The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Abia State Command, on Monday raided a baby factory, rescuing no fewer than 19 pregnant young women.
The home was said to be located at Umunkpeyi in the Isiala Ngwa South Local Government Area of the state.
Security operatives have continued to clamp down on baby factories in the state especially Aba where a popular hospital was recently demolished by government for alleged involvement in the illegal deal.
The Abia State Commandant of the NSCDC, Mr. Andy Dateer, while parading the rescued girls and some of the workers in the baby factory, said the arrest was made possible following a tip-off.
Apart from the 19 pregnant inmates, NSCDC said three babies, aged two, were also rescued along with four social workers and four young men who were arrested at the premises.
According to him, the operators of the home keep young women with unwanted pregnancy in the premises and sell off their babies as soon as they are delivered of them.
He added that the owner of the baby factory, who was still at large, also arranged with some men “who impregnate the girls and sold the babies after delivery, while they were given peanuts.”
Dateer said he decided to parade the rescued girls and the suspects, “to tell the people of Abia state that such people exist in the state and since the state is God’s own state, such operations are not supposed to work here.”
The NSCDC boss said he had hinted the police, women affairs ministry, the wife of the state governor and the governor about the development.
He added, “One of the pregnant women has been rushed to the hospital following her critical health condition. The command, in partnership with the relevant authorities, will monitor the re- unification of the inmates with their families for proper care.”
Some of the inmates, who said they hailed from neighboring states, lamented that they had not been fed for the last two days.
They regretted their actions but blamed it on poverty and lack of parental care.
Punch