24 babies and four expectant mothers have been rescued by the Nigerian police from an illegal maternity home in Port Harcourt, the Rivers state capital.
The Police Public Relations Officer of the command, Nnamdi Omoni, made this known on Thursday.
According to Omoni, “In a covert operation on Tuesday, our men burst a child trafficking syndicate at Woji in Port Harcourt where 24 babies between the ages of one and two, and four pregnant teenagers were rescued.”
He said the victims were looking “frail and malnourished” and had been hospitalised while investigations were ongoing to find those responsible for the facility.
Police raids on illegal maternity units — dubbed “baby factories” — have been relatively common in Nigeria, especially in the south.
