Nigeria: Umuahia Residents Express Concern Over Illegal Adoption of Babies

November 2, 2012 / allafrica.com

Residents of Umuahia have expressed concern over the prevailing large scale adoption of babies in the area.

The residents expressed their concern on Friday in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Umuahia, Abia. They also called on government to implement measures to stop the practice and safeguard the Nigerian child.

Mrs Palace Obialo, a civil servant, said that the illegal adoption had contributed to the increased trading in babies and the use of babies for sinister purposes.

Obialo said that "a good number of the babies adopted illegally end up in the wrong hands".

Mrs. Uzoma Ekummadu, also a civil servant, said that most couples had lost court cases over ownership of their adopted children because they did not follow the procedure permitted by law.

Mr Lucky Ogwuegbu, a legal practitioner, said that "the federal act and state law had elevated the protocol by which adoption of child can be made legal".

Ogwuegbu said that illegal adoption "is a criminal act whereby failure to go through the normal procedure can result in a jail term".

Mr. Sam Etozuo, a businessman, said that the illegal adoption could be reduced if the government assists the "childless couples" to get in vitro fertilization (IVF) medication at subsidised rates.

Etozuo urged the relevant government agencies to intensify sensitisation campaigns against illegal adoption of babies and to institute a legal action against anyone caught in the act.