Birth attendant arrested for operating ‘baby factory’

The police in Lagos have arrested a 50-year-old traditional birThattendant for allegedly operating a centre where babies were born and sold to members of the public. The Commissioner of Police in Lagos State, Imohimi Edgal, told journalists on Monday that the suspect was arrested after allegedly selling one of the babies for N250,000.
He said that at the baby factory, located at No. 96, Bunmi Ajakaiye Street, Ajangbadi, pregnant women were induced and their babies sold after birth. “On the strength of intelligence information, the DPO of Ajangbadi Division led operatives to the compound where the suspect was found administering intravenous injection (drip) to one Uju Nnamdi who claimed to be sick and five months pregnant. “When search was conducted, a set of drip-water bags and other related drugs were recovered. On interrogation, the suspect confessed that she is not a medical doctor but a traditional birThattendant.
“She claimed that a 17-yearold girl was induced and she delivered a baby boy which she sold for N250,000. The said baby buyer was arrested, the baby retrieved and taken to the hospital while the said mother of the baby is being trailed for possible arrest. Meanwhile, investigation is ongoing,” he said. The suspect was paraded before journalists. In another development, a 51-year-old man was arrested for sexually assaulting his six-yearold daughter.
Mr Edgal said the suspect, a resident of Modupe St., off Balogun St., Ikeja, was reported to the police by a faith-based organisation for putting his fingers in his daughter’s private part. He said the Gender Section of the Command found that the suspect brought the girl to Lagos from Ikot Ekpene in Akwa Ibom where she was living with her mother, sometime in January. The Police chief said that investigation revealed that the suspect usually kept the child with a carer anytime he was going to work.