NSCDC DISCOVERS ‘BABY FACTORY’ IN IMO, RESCUES FIVE PREGNANT WOMEN
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By: Muftau Fatimo
The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Imo State has taken into custody one Tochukwu Ogaranya, 52, along with five pregnant women aged between 25 and 33, over alleged child trafficking.
The command also confirmed that five newborn babies were rescued from the suspects.
The NSCDC Commandant in Imo, Mr. Basil Igwebueze, disclosed this on Saturday in Owerri while briefing journalists on the command’s recent operations.
Igwebueze stated that the suspects, including an alleged accomplice, Godwin Nnamdi, 47, were apprehended at an orphanage where they were reportedly engaging in these illegal activities.
According to him, on March 14, one of his officers saw a pregnant teenager running away from the orphanage at the World Bank area of Owerri, the Imo capital.
“This prompted my officers to move into action at the orphanage, arrest the owner of the orphanage and rescue the pregnant women and newborn babies,” he said.
Igwebueze described child trafficking as a “heinous crime” and appealed to Imo residents to ‘say something, when they see something’.
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He also advised them to always take urgent steps to report suspicious persons and activities to security agencies for prompt action.
“If the residents of the state had not assisted us with the necessary information, the command would not have uncovered such a criminal act, he said.
The owner of the orphanage, Ogaranya, however, insisted that her facility is certified and denied any involvement in child trafficking.
She recounted that a 33-year-old woman, identified as Chiamaka, had arrived at the orphanage while pregnant, allegedly having fled from the man who impregnated her in Abia State.
Ogaranya said she contacted the police, who promised to accompany Chiamaka back to Abia to apprehend the man.
She added that she was shocked when her staff informed her that Chiamaka had scaled the orphanage fence and was later intercepted by local vigilantes.
Chiamaka, a native of Ikeduru Local Government Area, claimed that she was brought to the orphanage by someone she barely knew, with the intention that she would give birth and sell the baby to that individual. She explained that, feeling unable to cope with the situation, she escaped the orphanage by scaling the fence to save her life.
Igwebueze stated that the suspects would be formally arraigned for prosecution.
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