Police detectives attached to the Ariaria Police Division, Aba, Abia State, have arrested one Christopher Tochukwu for allegedly running a baby factory on Faulks Road, Aba.
It was learnt that Tochukwu, who claimed to be a pastor, converted a one-storeyed building, where he conducted his church services and had a clinic, to a hideout where pregnant teenage girls were kept.
A police source told Punch that the detectives, acting on a tip-off, rescued three pregnant girls and another girl whose baby had been sold to an unidentified buyer.
The source added that the team also arrested Tochukwu, while a two-week-old baby was rescued and taken to a motherless babies’ home.
One of the girls, Imeabo Udo, said she was taken to the clinic by a young man who promised to help her take care of her two-year-old baby.
She explained that on getting to the clinic, her baby boy was taken away from her and sold to an unidentified woman.
For Jane Ikechukwu, Blessing and Gift, their stories were not different.
They claimed that they were taken to the clinic by unknown persons for antenatal care, but were forced to stay back at the clinic for a period of over one month.
According to Blessing, Tochukwu took turns to rape them one, while they were locked up in different rooms in the building.
She said, “It was while he was raping one of us that the girl fought and injured him with a broken glass. It was the girl that escaped through the window and alerted the police.”
Tochukwu, who claimed to be a nurse by training, however, denied raping the girls.
He said he had no arrangement to sell their babies after birth, adding that he was just keeping them to pay their bills after treating them.
The state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Adeleye Oyebade, confirmed the arrest of the suspect and the rescue of the victims.
He said investigation was ongoing, adding that the police were on the trail of other culprits on the run.
It was learnt that Tochukwu, who claimed to be a pastor, converted a one-storeyed building, where he conducted his church services and had a clinic, to a hideout where pregnant teenage girls were kept.
A police source told Punch that the detectives, acting on a tip-off, rescued three pregnant girls and another girl whose baby had been sold to an unidentified buyer.
The source added that the team also arrested Tochukwu, while a two-week-old baby was rescued and taken to a motherless babies’ home.
One of the girls, Imeabo Udo, said she was taken to the clinic by a young man who promised to help her take care of her two-year-old baby.
She explained that on getting to the clinic, her baby boy was taken away from her and sold to an unidentified woman.
For Jane Ikechukwu, Blessing and Gift, their stories were not different.
They claimed that they were taken to the clinic by unknown persons for antenatal care, but were forced to stay back at the clinic for a period of over one month.
According to Blessing, Tochukwu took turns to rape them one, while they were locked up in different rooms in the building.
She said, “It was while he was raping one of us that the girl fought and injured him with a broken glass. It was the girl that escaped through the window and alerted the police.”
Tochukwu, who claimed to be a nurse by training, however, denied raping the girls.
He said he had no arrangement to sell their babies after birth, adding that he was just keeping them to pay their bills after treating them.
The state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Adeleye Oyebade, confirmed the arrest of the suspect and the rescue of the victims.
He said investigation was ongoing, adding that the police were on the trail of other culprits on the run.
