Police rescue 7 teenagers from baby factory …Doctors, nurses on the run

Police rescue 7 teenagers from baby factory …Doctors, nurses on the run
From PETRUS OBI, Enugu
Tuesday, October 7, 2008

The police in Enugu have rescued seven teenage girls who were being kept in confinement at a hospital in Enugu for the purpose of producing children for sale and also arrested four persons, including two nurses at the hospital, who are all believed to be in the child trafficking business.

Parading both the suspects and victims on Monday in Enugu, the new state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Sani Magaji, also declared wanted two medical doctors; Dr. Ani Innocent and Dr. Nwachukwu, both of who also work in the hospital, Chief Denis Memorial Hospital, located near UNTH, Enugu.

Also on the police wanted list is Mrs. Chizoba Eneh, the matron of the hospital, as well as one Mrs. Mamere, who police said is the kingpin in the trafficking business.

The two nurses, Esther Ogbonna and Ada Okenwa, were arrested alongside Obinna Okafor and Ugochukwu Okafor, believed to be children of the owner of the hospital, Chief Denis Okafor, now late.
The Enugu police boss disclosed that the police swooped on the hospital following a tip-off from a woman informant.

He narrated how the woman informant, whose name he did not disclose, was approached by a pregnant teenage girl, Ifeoma Eze, who asked for her assistance after narrating how she escaped from the hospital where she has been confined for about six months.
The CP said the woman on seeing the condition of the girl decided to take her to the ESUTH Teaching Hospital, Park Lane, where the girl was reportedly recognized by one of the arrested nurses, Esther Ogbonna, who quickly alerted the Chief Denis Memorial Hospital .

CP Magaji revealed that it was the effort put up by the Denis Memorial Hospital to recover the girl from Park Lane Hospital back to her confinement that prompted the informant woman to call in the police, who took over from that point.

He said when the men stormed the hospital, the doctors and the matron all escaped while they recovered six more teenage girls in confinement, some pregnant and others newly delivered of their babies.
He condemned the act of child trafficking and sale of babies assuring that the command will stop at nothing to bring all those involved to book.

He gave the names of the recovered girls as Ibenyi Ogochukwu, who hails from Ishielu in Ebonyi State; Grace Chieme, from Afa-Abaji in Kogi State; Ifeyinwa Eneh, from Udi, Enugu State; Illikanwu Meluchi, from Nkpor Anambra State; Igwe Ukamaka, from Nkalagu, Ebonyi State; Joy Jacob, from Ohaozara Ebonyi State, and Ifeoma Eze from Effium, Ebonyi State.
The police commissioner said investigation was in progress and that efforts were being made to arrest other suspects at large, disclosing that as soon as police concludes investigations they will all be handed over to the police.

The current breakthrough in child trafficking in Enugu is coming few months after a medical doctor, Dr. Akunne, was arrested and 22 teenage girls liberated and later made confessional statements on what transpires in the hospital.
Dr. Akunne’s case was exposed when a woman carrying a baby was arrested and interrogated at a motor park in Enugu where she confessed to have bought the baby from Akunne’s hospital for a fee of N350, 000.
Dr. Aknunne has long been arraigned by the National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic in Persons and Other Related matters (NAPTIP) at the Enugu Federal High Court on a 22 count charge.