Operatives of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Lagos State Command, have uncovered a baby factory in Okuju, Ilado, Badagry area of Lagos State.
In an operation carried out on Wednesday night cum the early hours of Thursday, the operatives rescued 18 pregnant women and 10 children, and arrested the operators of the facility, identified as Joy Okeke and Raphael Agwu.
The victims were said to have subscribed to the facility online via Facebook.
The pregnant women, upon delivery, had their children sold and were paid between N500,000 and N1.8 million.
The victims, aged between 18 and 30, were paraded at the NSCDC office, Badagry Division, Ibereko, on Friday.
Some of the pregnant women had come to the centre with children and infants also up for sale to willing buyers.
At the parade, the Commandant of the Lagos State NSCDC, Adedotun Keshinro, said operatives swooped on a building containing many rooms housing the victims following actionable intelligence that lasted three weeks.
Keshinro said, “They are operating a baby factory where victims are made pregnant. When the babies are delivered, they are sold.
“The suspects entice pregnant victims to come and negotiate with them that when they deliver the babies, the babies will be taken from them, and they will be paid off.
“When they deliver the babies, the babies are taken from them to be sold to customers, and the victims are paid off.”
“There are 18 victims who are fully pregnant, but one of them had a miscarriage. So, 17 of them are currently carrying pregnancies. And there are other babies there who are grown, and they are also here on negotiation to be sold to interested buyers,” Keshinro added.
Noting that the operators of the facility had committed a “grievous crime against humanity,” the NSCDC commandant said they would be handed over to the police for further action, while the victims would be handed over to the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons.
Among items retrieved at the facility were a pumping machine, a generator set, standing fans, gas cylinders, burners, cooking pots, phones, mats, toiletries, baby skincare products, tableware, and assorted food items.
On what becomes of the Badagry facility, Keshinro said, “We will hand over the place to the state government. The state government may decide to demolish the place so that they will not be able to continue to use it for that activity.”
Responding to questions from journalists, Okeke, the chief operator of the facility, said she arrived at the Badagry location in January from Ikorodu in search of a bigger apartment.
Okeke said she “adopted” children for those who do not have any.
She said, “We are adopting children to give to those who don’t have children. I have been doing this for some months. I moved here from Ikorodu in search of a bigger apartment. We were in Ikorodu before. We are two operating this place.”
She declined to state how much she sells a child or how clients access the facility, saying, “I can talk further when my lawyer is here. I don’t want to talk anymore.
“If you are interrogating me, my lawyer should be present.”
The women claimed they were well fed daily, allowed to use their phones, and could request medical attention if unwell, but were not allowed to leave the facility at will.
One of the women further stated that part of the agreement was that they could leave before delivery, but would not receive any payment.
According to Raphael Agwu, who was arrested alongside the operator of the facility, the women come in pregnant and sign an agreement to deliver their babies for sale, after which they are paid.
Agwu said he believed the centre offered an alternative to women considering abortion and helped childless couples.
He said, “There are agents on online groups who propose that instead of aborting it, you can come to us, and we will take care of you. And when you deliver the child, we’ll take the baby for ourselves.
“There are groups for adoption, abortion and unwanted pregnancies on Facebook. These are open groups. These people post that they want to give up their child for adoption, and negotiation begins.
“They were already pregnant on their own and decided to give birth for adoption. So, in order for us to be safe, because of that agreement, they gave their consent and everything.”
