NAPTIP Laments Rising Cases of Sale of Babies

from: thisdayonline.com

August 19, 2008
Francis Ugwoke

Enugu - National Agency for  Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons and Other Related Matters (NAPTIP), yesterday lamented increase in the number of maternity homes involved in the sale of babies in the South-east.

Zonal Director of NAPTIP, Mrs Ijeoma Okoronkwo, told newsmen in Enugu, that the organisation has discovered  cases  of maternity homes  involved in  babies’ sale are spreading in the five states of the South-east.

Okoronkwo said Abia State was the worst hit, because, NAPTIP officials have discovered that the issue of baby sale in the name of adoption was common among the people everywhere they visited in the state.

She particularly mentioned Ohafia, Obi-Ngwa and Bende, as among the areas in Abia, where the issue of baby sale was rampant.

According to her, the worst scenario was that people do not see anything wrong in paying to have the babies from  foster homes, adding that it was criminal for people to resort to buying babies in the name of adoption.

She said NAPTIP plans to set up a monitoring group in all communities in the five states of the South-east, to ensure that no foster home is involved in baby sale.

According to her, there was a great difference between adoption of babies as enshrined in the laws of the country and outright purchase of babies from foster homes, adding that what could be alarming was that in all the states except Enugu, the much talked about Child Rights Act has been passed, explaining that with this,  Ministry of Women Affairs were supposed to prosecute such offenders.