- Launches manhunt for owner
The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has sealed off a baby factory in Aba, the commercial city of Abia State.
The Agency said three persons connected to the crime including a Nigerian-American had been arrested while a manhunt had been launched for the owner of the place, Nwamaka Ijeoma Agozie who was said to be on the run.
According to the agency’s Head, Press and Public Relations, Stella Nezan, the baby factory, Nwamaka Herbal Centre, located at Ikpokwu, Ukwa West Local Government Area of Abia State was sealed by operatives of the Agency last Wednesday following the refusal of the owner to respond to invitations extended to her by the Agency.
She said investigation of the Baby factory followed the arrest of a Nigerian-American citizen who was found with two children that she claimed to have delivered at the Nwamaka Herbal Centre but which investigations were proving otherwise. The two children were said to be twins.
Nezan added that the Nigerian-American had claimed to have given birth to them in March 2020 shortly after she returned from the United States of America.
According to the suspect who also claimed to be a Pastor in the United States, she did not know the man responsible for the alleged pregnancy as she got into multiple sexual affairs in September 2018 in Amsterdam and started experiencing some strange symptoms one month later.
During that period, she said she visited a hospital in Atlanta and, according to her, the doctors said they could not identify any pregnancy in her.
After several encounters with doctors outside Nigeria who could not confirm her pregnant, she said she decided to come to Nigeria and seek the medical service of Mrs Nwamaka Ijeoma.
She narrated further that on the 5th March, 2020, she came to Nigeria and went to see Mrs Ijeoma who gave her some types of medicine said to have been mixed with honey and that few hours later, she gave birth to a set of twin.
She claimed to have paid a whopping sum of N2million Naira (Two Million Naira) for the delivery.
The deal, however, blew open when the Nigerian-American approached the American Embassy in Abuja to procure necessary document that would enable her to leave Nigeria with the children.
The Embassy reportedly doubted her claims and conducted a DNA test which proved negative.
The DNA result showed that she was not the biological mother of the children and that the babies were not even related.
The scenario has become more suspicious as the owner of the Herbal Centre where she claimed to have delivered the babies is now on the run but security Agencies are now said to be chasing after her.
The babies are presently receiving adequate care at the shelter of the Agency while investigation continues.
Reacting to the development, Director General of NAPTIP, Imaan Sulaiman- Ibrahim, expressed displeasure with the rising cases of sales of babies and child trafficking in the country and promised thorough investigation into the case with a view to bringing to book the perpetrators.
Stay ahead with the latest updates! Join The ConclaveNG on WhatsApp and Telegram for real-time news alerts, breaking stories, and exclusive content delivered straight to your phone. Don’t miss a headline — subscribe now!
