10 people have been rescued by the Rivers State Police after their raid on two baby factories.
The Rivers State Police Command reported that during a raid on two alleged baby factories in the state, 10 victims of child trafficking were rescued.
In a statement released yesterday, the command’s spokesperson, Grace Iringe-Koko, said four alleged owners of the baby factories had also been detained.
She went on to allege that the victims—two adult males and ten pregnant women, including teenagers—were detained at the factories against their will after being brainwashed by the owners.
She stated: “On January 7, at approximately 4:45 p.m., we got intelligence regarding the operations of a child trafficking ring in the communities of Igwuruta and Omagwa in Rivers State.
“The command’s C41 Intelligence Unit operatives raided two houses (factories) at Igwuruta and Omagwa communities, where victims of child trafficking were kept. Four suspected operators of the factories, including two men and two women, were arrested by our operatives. ”Iringe-Koko hinted that the suspects were led by a 40-year-old woman from the Igwuruta community. The pregnant victims were aged between 15 and 29 at the time of their rescue, she added.
“Investigation showed that when the victims are delivered of their babies, the syndicate leader takes the babies and pay them N500,000. All the victims confessed that they were lured into the business because they were promised money to meet their financial challenges.
The spokesperson said, “The case has been transferred to the command’s Criminal Investigation Department while efforts are on to track and arrest the buyers”.
