This archive report was first published on 1 October 2019.
On September 19, 2019, police in Lagos, Nigeria's largest city, conducted a raid on a 'baby factory' and freed 19 women and girls who had been abducted and impregnated by their captors.
The victims, aged 15 to 28, were brought from various parts of Nigeria with promises of employment as domestic staff in Lagos. However, they were instead forced into pregnancy and were to be sold to potential buyers.
According to Lagos police spokesman Bala Elkana, the girls were tricked into coming to Lagos with false promises of employment. The suspects planned to sell the babies, with boys being sold for 500,000 naira ($1,630) and girls for 300,000 naira ($980).
Elkana stated that the raid had been kept secret to enable the police to apprehend suspects. Two women, aged 40 and 54, were arrested in connection with the case, and a third suspect is still at large.
One of the freed women, who wished to remain anonymous, shared her harrowing experience. She had been impregnated by her boyfriend and was told by her aunt that there was a job for her in Lagos. However, upon arrival, she was induced into labor at seven months pregnant and gave birth to a weak baby that eventually died.
The Lagos police have handed over the case to the state criminal investigation department, which is working with other agencies to resettle the women and girls and their babies.
