THE fact is well known that Nigeria as a country is often a theatre of the absurd. And that is why the recent disclosure by the Anambra State commander of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Ibadin Judith-Chukwu, namely that human trafficking in the state is assuming an increasingly alarming dimension, did not elicit any outrage. The more certain illegalities are deplored in the public domain, it seems, the more they fester, apparently because the enforcement of the law is either inadequate, diffident, or altogether non-existent. According to Judith-Chukwu, there is a disturbing trend in the state whereby young people are now cohabiting by mutual consent solely to produce babies for sale. Judith-Chukwu, who lamented that the sale of babies is more prevalent in rural communities, emphasised the need for widespread public enlightenment, particularly among residents of remote areas.

Speaking in an interview with journalists in her office in Awka, the NAPTIP official said: “We have seen situations where a girl gets pregnant, and then someone suddenly presents a marriage proposal. After she gives birth, often without her knowledge or consent, the man takes the baby and sells it.” Judith-Chukwu, who lamented that the sale of babies is more prevalent in rural communities, emphasised the need for widespread public enlightenment, particularly among residents of remote areas. Her words: “I can say that NAPTIP has performed fairly well by establishing state task forces. These task forces are addressing crimes specific to each state, especially those related to human trafficking. The task force in Anambra State is active and being equipped to handle the situation. Since its establishment in 2020, the Anambra State Task Force on Human Trafficking has initiated various activities, including public sensitization campaigns, to raise awareness about the trends and patterns of human trafficking. We are engaging critical stakeholders such as sister law enforcement agencies, religious bodies, and community groups to ensure the message gets to every corner of the state.”

Over the years, NAPTIP and various state governments have been confronted with the ugly spectacle of baby factories and taken steps to curb their proliferation. In a baby factory, the operator(s) look for pregnant and abandoned girls, house them and care for them till they give birth, then sell off their babies. In other cases, the operators hire certain criminally minded young men to impregnate young girls that have been lured into their lairs, then sell off those babies once born, with the buyers being either needy couples, traffickers, or people engaged in the occult manipulation called money rituals. In the current case, though, the situation is slightly different: the outcome of baby factories, namely the breeding of babies for sale, is achieved, but without apparent coercion. In this case, young people are either cohabiting for the sole purpose of birthing babies for sale, or young, criminally minded boys are making marital propositions to pregnant young girls, then selling off the babies once they are born. Nothing can be more evil.

Just how does anyone trade off babies after carrying a pregnancy to term and going through all the pains of childbearing? Where is the expected mother’s instinct? How can young men and women cohabit solely to produce babies for sale? Why part ways with a vital part of your being and existence strictly for pecuniary reasons? Why throw your own baby into an evil, uncertain world simply for the pleasure of spending money that has been provided by human traffickers, many of whom will actually go ahead and cause those babies to be slaughtered for money rituals? Why profit from blood money? In the case of the young, pregnant girls abandoned by their parents and sent out of the home, then lured into a false marriage by young men intending to sell off the babies once born, there is indeed a double tragedy. Such girls end up losing their babies and the new life they have been made to believe that they now have, having found someone who supposedly loves them enough to want to marry them even with a pregnancy. It is distressing that such girls are subjected to the horror of losing their children when they believe that they are now in a relationship, having found “love” in their pregnant state.

Selling off children is mortgaging the future of those children. Because of such horrible business, it can only be hoped, in the case of babies bought but not slaughtered for money ritual, that siblings do not get married to one another in the future. The government has to be up and doing and arrest this menace. This is embarrassing for Nigeria’s image, but that is not even the fundamental issue. The fundamental point is that no child deserves to be an item of trade. Children ought to be able to grow up basking in the warmth of their natural home and surrounded by the love of their parents and siblings. They should not be subjected to the horror of forceful separation from their parents, except in cases when the parents die. The Anambra State government should mount enlightenment campaigns against the evil practice of baby trafficking. It should round up and send baby traffickers to jail. Actually, this is what all state governments in the country should do.

Part of the enlightenment campaigns, we believe, should be to reorient parents and steer them away from the pernicious practice of abandoning their pregnant young daughters. Yes, it can be painful to see one’s young daughter who is still in school getting pregnant, but this is not, and should not be, the end of the world. No parent worth their salt can be comfortable sleeping on their bed while their daughter is out there somewhere going through hell. Parents should be able to love and forgive their daughters no matter what. It is certainly true that they would not throw their sons out of the house if they got someone pregnant. Who says getting pregnant has to mean the termination of a girl’s schooling? And if the Holy Books teach forgiveness, why would parents who look up to God for forgiveness not extend clemency to their own children?

The government should ensure that there are social welfare programmes to give girls who are pregnant out of wedlock hope. There should be no child abandoned by parents who is not being taken care of by the government. Indeed, sending children out of home should be strongly discouraged by the government. This does not mean that we endorse immorality. We categorically do not. We, however, frown on any situation whereby a pregnant young girl would be treated as an outcast and denied parental and societal love.








Tribune Editorial