Worried by activities of owners of ‘baby factories’, the Imo State Government yesterday revoked the certificates of all motherless babies and foster homes in the state "with immediate effect."
This information was announced on Monday by Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Nma Onyechere.
She stressed that buying and selling of human beings were not part of Igbo culture, adding that the heat generated over the issue was enough to get government react to the terrible problem.
Commissioner warned that any staff of the Ministry found to have established such homes would be summarily dismissed from service.
"As at the last count, only 36 homes were registered in the state. Our interest in the re-certification exercise is to save lives and preserve the corporate image of the state." "In line with the current revocation of the certificates, government has planned fresh re-registration and re-certification of all such homes. Anybody or group of persons found to have defied this policy will be arrested and prosecuted," the commissioner said.
Onyechere also said the re-certification had nothing to do with the current commercialisation policy of the state government, as the new fees to be charged would be affordable.
'Production' of babies has become a 'blooming' business in Nigeria. Teenage girls with unwanted pregnancies give out the children, for adoption, usually to couples who want them. Such couples get the children at agreed terms. There are, however, no statistics on the number of babies sold, nor the young men and women entangled.
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