Investigating Nigeria’s notorious
baby farms and the criminals who abuse and exploit women for profit.
It is understandable why a desperate
childless couple might do anything to have a baby, but those who exploit their
unhappiness for profit are not so easy to forgive.
In this deeply disturbing episode
of Africa Investigates, Ghana's undercover journalist Anas Aremeyaw
Anas and investigative reporter Rosemary Nwaebuni team up to identify and
expose some of those behind Nigeria's heart-breaking baby trade.
It is a scam that exploits couples
desperate for a baby and young pregnant single mothers - often stigmatised in a
country where abortion is illegal except in the most dire medical
emergency. It is also a trade that international NGOs have identified as sinister
and out of control.
Filming undercover, the team find
bogus doctors and clinics offering spurious fertility treatments in return for
large amounts of money. In their guise as a childless couple, Anas and Rosemary
are falsely diagnosed by one dodgy clinician as being unable to conceive
children.
When the footage is reviewed by an
official from Nigeria's Ministry of Health, he is appalled at the way
vulnerable people are being conned. "You should not allow these people
access to the public," he says.
But worse is to come. The team go on
to uncover orphanages and clinics that act as brokers for illegal baby sales,
by which naive, greedy or simply desperate young mothers are
"persuaded" to hand over their newborn children for cash.
The Film Maker’s View
By Nonuk Walter
After exposing the dubious and often dangerous practices of fake doctors in the last season of Africa Investigates, we reassembled our Nigeria team and returned to investigate allegations of medical clinics and orphanages involved in the illegal sale of newborn babies.
Nigerian journalist Rosemary Nwaebuni had heard reports of young girls being kept against their will and forced to produce babies, only for the children to be sold on to childless couples, desperate to avoid the public scrutiny and stigma of legal adoption.
Joining Rosemary once again was renowned investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas, fresh from his recent explosive undercover investigation into judicial corruption in Ghana. Anas's unique experience and myriad undercover skills quickly took us to the core of the baby business.
After exposing the dubious and often dangerous practices of fake doctors in the last season of Africa Investigates, we reassembled our Nigeria team and returned to investigate allegations of medical clinics and orphanages involved in the illegal sale of newborn babies.
Nigerian journalist Rosemary Nwaebuni had heard reports of young girls being kept against their will and forced to produce babies, only for the children to be sold on to childless couples, desperate to avoid the public scrutiny and stigma of legal adoption.
Joining Rosemary once again was renowned investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas, fresh from his recent explosive undercover investigation into judicial corruption in Ghana. Anas's unique experience and myriad undercover skills quickly took us to the core of the baby business.
In parts of Nigeria women who remain
childless face prejudice. It can even arouse suspicion of witchcraft. Rosemary
wanted to show the lengths that women are prepared to go to achieve pregnancy;
for many, legal adoption is not a viable solution.
Instead, they turn to so-called "miracle" doctors. In spite of frequent crackdowns by the authorities, you don't need to look very hard to find "miracle" clinics open for business in the discreet suburbs of Port Harcourt, Aba and Imo State.
Instead, they turn to so-called "miracle" doctors. In spite of frequent crackdowns by the authorities, you don't need to look very hard to find "miracle" clinics open for business in the discreet suburbs of Port Harcourt, Aba and Imo State.
t is a scam that exploits couples
desperate for a baby and young pregnant single mothers - often stigmatised in a
country where abortion is illegal except in the most dire medical
emergency. It is also a trade that international NGOs have identified as
sinister and out of control.
Filming undercover, the team find
bogus doctors and clinics offering spurious fertility treatments in return for
large amounts of money. In their guise as a childless couple, Anas and Rosemary
are falsely diagnosed by one dodgy clinician as being unable to conceive
children.
When the footage is reviewed by an
official from Nigeria's Ministry of Health, he is appalled at the way
vulnerable people are being conned. "You should not allow these people
access to the public," he says.
But worse is to come. The team go on
to uncover orphanages and clinics that act as brokers for illegal baby sales,
by which naive, greedy or simply desperate young mothers are
"persuaded" to hand over their newborn children for cash.
The Film Maker’s View
By Nonuk Walter
After exposing the dubious and often dangerous practices of fake doctors in the last season of Africa Investigates, we reassembled our Nigeria team and returned to investigate allegations of medical clinics and orphanages involved in the illegal sale of newborn babies.
Nigerian journalist Rosemary Nwaebuni had heard reports of young girls being kept against their will and forced to produce babies, only for the children to be sold on to childless couples, desperate to avoid the public scrutiny and stigma of legal adoption.
Joining Rosemary once again was renowned investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas, fresh from his recent explosive undercover investigation into judicial corruption in Ghana. Anas's unique experience and myriad undercover skills quickly took us to the core of the baby business.
In parts of Nigeria women who remain childless face prejudice. It can even arouse suspicion of witchcraft. Rosemary wanted to show the lengths that women are prepared to go to achieve pregnancy; for many, legal adoption is not a viable solution.
Instead, they turn to so-called "miracle" doctors. In spite of frequent crackdowns by the authorities, you don't need to look very hard to find "miracle" clinics open for business in the discreet suburbs of Port Harcourt, Aba and Imo State.
After exposing the dubious and often dangerous practices of fake doctors in the last season of Africa Investigates, we reassembled our Nigeria team and returned to investigate allegations of medical clinics and orphanages involved in the illegal sale of newborn babies.
Nigerian journalist Rosemary Nwaebuni had heard reports of young girls being kept against their will and forced to produce babies, only for the children to be sold on to childless couples, desperate to avoid the public scrutiny and stigma of legal adoption.
Joining Rosemary once again was renowned investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas, fresh from his recent explosive undercover investigation into judicial corruption in Ghana. Anas's unique experience and myriad undercover skills quickly took us to the core of the baby business.
In parts of Nigeria women who remain childless face prejudice. It can even arouse suspicion of witchcraft. Rosemary wanted to show the lengths that women are prepared to go to achieve pregnancy; for many, legal adoption is not a viable solution.
Instead, they turn to so-called "miracle" doctors. In spite of frequent crackdowns by the authorities, you don't need to look very hard to find "miracle" clinics open for business in the discreet suburbs of Port Harcourt, Aba and Imo State.
Source: Adomonline
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