2,500 Pregnant Teenagers Rescued From ‘Baby Factories’ In South-East (MUST READ)

In what could only be a testament to the thriving
industry now known
as ‘baby factories’, an investigation by Campaign
for Democracy (CD)
has revealed that no fewer than 2500 teenagers
have been rescued from
such ‘factories’ across the South-East states in
the last one year. The
investigations also revealed that the victims, who
were mostly pregnant
minors, were freed by the Police and other security
agencies from the
various illegal orphanages where they were
detained.
According to a statement released by the group
and signed by its
Chairman in the South-East, Uzor A. Uzor, most of
the teenage
pregnant mothers lured into the trade with
monetary offers by the ‘baby
factory’ operators, while others were forced into
the infamous trade by
poverty and illiteracy.
The CD noted that within the period under review,
Abia and Imo
states topped the list with highest number of
teenagers involved in the
infamous trade.
The group attributed the increase in ‘baby factory’
operations in the zone
to high rate of youth unemployment and poverty
occasioned by the failure
of successive governments in the region to put
adequate measures in place
to empower the youths by creating meaningful
employment.
“The rising cases of baby factory in the South-East
is a result of the
failure of the state governments in the South-East
to create jobs for the
teeming youths, especially the helpless girls who
are easily lured into the
trade.
“There is no other part of the country that has the
problem of baby
factory; it is a peculiar case with the South-East.
“In Abia and Imo states, about 1,800 pregnant
teenagers and babies
were rescued from ‘baby factories’ in the last 12
months and the number
is still rising”, the CD stated.
It further tasked the South-East governors on the
need to urgently fight
the menace to secure the future of the teeming
youths, who are currently
threatened.
“The governors in the zone should collaborate
with security operatives to
fish out those behind the trade and rehabilitate
the rescued teenagers,”
CD charged.
It would be recalled that the Imo State
Commissioner of Police,
Muhammad Musa Katsina, had during a media
chat in Owerri, the
state capital, lamented the rising cases of
discovery of ‘baby factory’ in
the South-East but vowed that the police would
not relent in its effort to
stem the ugly tide.
According to him, “the rate is alarming in all the
states. It had been
there until we began the clampdown on the
operators and we will
continue until we rid the society of this set of
people and other criminal
elements”