National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Operatives on routine on patrol along Aba-Owerri Expressway, Imo State, have rescued five pregnant teenage girls suspected to be victims of child trafficking used as baby factory.
They were picked up while being relocated from their hideout in the Naze area of Owerri to Ikenegbu area of the state capital, the spokesperson for the anti-narcotics agency, Femi Babafemi, revealed in a statement on Sunday.
The cordinator of Imo Peoples Action For Democracy(IPAD), who spoke with our correspondent, confirmed the arrest. According to her, one of the pregnant teenagers, went into labour, few hours after their rescue and she is receiving attention from a medical facility in Owerri. Efforts are being made to locate the parents of these trafficking victims and reunite them with their families.
In their statement, the teenagers claimed they didn’t know the men who impregnated them.
“The victims are Chioma Emmanuel, 15; Uma Faith, 15; Divine Adimonye, 17; Opara Gift, 15; and Amarachi Mbata, 16. In their statements, they (pregnant teenagers) claimed they didn’t know the men who impregnated them,” the NDLEA statement on Sunday read in part.
The teenagers, according to the NDLEA, were rescued on September 13, 2023.
“The Imo State Command of the agency has since been directed to hand them over to the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons for further investigation,” Babafemi noted.
Baby Factory; 5 Imo State Teenagers Arrested
