32 Teen Moms Rescued From Nigerian 'Baby Factory'

Nigerian police have rescued 32 pregnant girls aged 15 to 17 from what they termed a “baby factory” in the southern city of Aba. Police allege that the women who went to the Cross Foundation clinic were forced to sell their babies for around $170 to $190. The hospital’s owner, Dr. Hyacinth Orikara, would then allegedly either sell them off for use in occult rituals or as slaves, or put them up for adoption illegally.

Orikara denies the allegations, saying he runs a clinic to help teens with unwanted pregnancies, according to local sources cited by the New York Daily News. But such baby factories are common across West Africa, the newspaper notes. According to Unicef, at least 10 children are sold daily in Nigeria alone, adds the BBC. (More human trafficking stories.)