- Nigerian police rescued 10 people, four children and four pregnant women among them, from a so-called "baby factory".
- Rescued women told police the owner hired men to impregnate them and then sell the babies for profit.
- The owner of the centre had been previously arrested for the same offence and was standing trial for human trafficking.
Lagos
– Police in Nigeria have rescued 10 people, including four children, four
pregnant women and two other women from an illegal maternity home, a spokesperson
said on Wednesday.
The operation was carried out at the so-called "baby factory" in the Mowe area of the southwestern Ogun state on Tuesday.
Police spokesperson Abimbola Oyeyemi told AFP:
He
said the women told police that the owner hired men to impregnate them and then
sell the newborns for profit.
The "factories" are usually small illegal facilities parading as private medical clinics that house pregnant women and offer their babies for sale.
Centre owner 'on the run'
In some cases, young women have been held against their will and raped before their babies are sold on the black market
Oyeyemi said two suspects, a physically challenged man and the daughter of the owner of the clinic, were arrested.
"The operator of the centre is on the run, but we are intensifying efforts to arrest her and bring her to justice," he said.
Oyeyemi said the operator had been previously arrested for the same offence.
He said:
Police
raids on illegal maternity units are relatively common in Nigeria, especially
in the south.
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