Six pregnant women were rescued from a “baby factory” in the southern Rivers state of Nigeria a week ago, and 22 women were rescued in a recent army raid in the neighboring state of Abia, according to foreign media. These are small successes of the law-enforcement institutions of Africa’s most populous country against, as noted by non-governmental organizations, the ever-growing epidemic of “child factories” – a systematic network of rape of women and child trafficking, which has plagued Nigeria for about 20 years.
According to the police, in connection with the latest case, the “factory” in Rivers State belonged to a 39-year-old woman. The woman confessed to the crime and told the police that she has been in the human trafficking business for many years. “The main suspect and her accomplices are in custody. The investigation will continue in order to arrest other possible culprits in the establishment of the “factory”, State Police Commissioner Polijkarps Emeka commented on the incident.
On the other hand, in the already mentioned army raid, where 22 women were released, all of them were between 20 and 25 years old. The victims were handed over by the army to the custody of the Abia State authorities after their release. The state representative, Ferdinand Ekeoma, praised the army’s raid to the media, stressing that the government is ready to fight any form of human trafficking.
Girls are cheaper than boys
However, both the stories of Nigeria’s “child factories” where women are forcibly taken and the fight against them are nothing new. As early as 2006, UNESCO introduced the term “children’s factory”, OWP explains. Since then, such institutions have become permanent components of the “black market”. In 2020, “The Guardian” even described the business of children’s “factories” as an increasingly common phenomenon. “Factories” most often
2023-06-10 21:02:23
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