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View of Nigeria's Moonlight Maternity Clinic, that was raided by paramilitary operatives for allegedly engaging in baby trafficking business in the southeastern city of Enugu, on August 5, 2013/AFP

World

Nigerian ‘baby factories’ bring profits and pain

The maximum sentence is life in prison but sentencing remains at the judges’ discretion and offenders can get away with just a fine.

Baby trafficking, in particular, has intensified in the southeast, which is populated mainly by the Igbo ethnic group. The NCDC has several ongoing undercover operations targeting suspected baby trafficking rings in Enugu, underscoring the severity of the problem in this region.

The reasons given for why this “baby” market has developed here vary widely.

Some fear newborns are being sold to witchdoctors for rituals in a country where occult practices still occur. Some say fraudsters in the region had simply found another reliable way to earn cash.

But the security forces and activists said the majority of buyers are likely married couples struggling to conceive.

Oby Nwankwo, who spent years as a magistrates court judge in the southeast, said Igbo customs that place huge importance on male children may also play a role.

Widows and daughters have faced massive obstacles when trying to inherit family resources after the death of a patriarch, explained Nwankwo, also a member of a UN committee on discrimination against women (CEDAW).

In some cases, “if a man does not have a child, that’s it. His brother or distant relative will inherit”, said the ex-judge.

Nigerian courts have ruled against Igbo inheritance customs that discriminate against females, but the pressure on a couple to have a male heir remains intense.

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Official adoption, managed by state governments in Nigeria, is excessively bureaucratic and involves a public record, a problem in a society where stigmas about adoption persist.

Iruka Nwokedi of the Women in Peace Building Network in Enugu also blamed the intense pressure placed on having a son in the region.

“Most people want to go through the back door they look for illegal means,” said Nwokedi.

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