The search for the fruit of the womb has driven
many women to take extreme steps.
When women are unable to conceive and bear
children, the huge psychological toll makes them fall prey to fraudulent people
and patrons of ‘baby factories’.
Desope Cecilia, 61, and Joy Ibe, 43, were among
victims of a midwife, Oby George, who promised them ‘miracle’ twins and triplets
respectively.
While the midwife was being paraded before
journalists at the Lagos State Police Command, Ikeja, on Friday, the victims
told their stories, with faces covered for security reasons.
Cecilia said she had not been able to give her
78-year-old husband a child since they got married.
She stated, “A lady who knew I had tried to
conceive without success for a long time, told me about the midwife (George).
The lady gave me the phone number of the woman and I learnt her clinic is in
Port Harcourt.
“When I got there in March 2012, she explained to
me that she would be able to treat me with herbs and I would get pregnant. I was
told to pay N1.5m, which I paid to her.
“She gave me some herbs to take back to Lagos
with me and take for nine months. I took the herbs religiously. My tummy began
to swell, and my feet too. Those were the only signs I had that made me think I
was pregnant.”
Cecilia explained that George forbade her from
going for any form of ante-natal session or scan.
So, within the nine-month period that her tummy
protruded like that of a pregnant woman, she visited no hospital.
“The midwife told me not to go for any scan or
ante-natal care. She told me that if I did, they would not see anything because
what I was carrying was a ‘miracle’ pregnancy,” she said.
Asked if she ever saw any sign associated like
lactation during the period, Cecillia said she never knew it was a fake
pregnancy.
“I thought it was normal. Since my belly was
growing bigger and my feet swell up, I thought I was indeed pregnant,” she
said.
In her ninth month, Cecilia embarked on her
delivery journey to the house used by George as clinic for her ‘miracle
deliveries’ in Omiagbo, Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
When she arrived the house, the midwife prepared
her for delivery with another round of concoctions.
“She also gave me a strange seed. I don’t know
what it is called. When I chewed the seeds, I had to go to the toilet for bowel
movement. She also gave me a drug that made me very tired.
“I was laid on a bed after that. The midwife
asked me to start pushing. I began to push really hard. I was half-conscious.
Suddenly, I heard the cry of a baby, then another.”
Cecilia said she left George’s clinic, thinking
she had indeed been blessed with ‘miracle twins’.
Police Public Relations Officer, Lagos State
Command, Ngozi Braide, told journalists that on April 16, 2013, Cecilia took the
twins for immunisation at the Amuwo Odofin Health Centre, Lagos.
“But the medical officials at the centre were
suspicious that Cecilia was not the biological mother of the twins. They then
alerted the Area A Police Command. During investigation, she told the police
that they were ‘miracle babies’.
“Our men got the address of the midwife and went
to Port Harcourt, where she was arrested. Investigation still continues to
ensure we apprehend other members of her cartel. The twins are currently with
the SOS Children’s Village, Isolo,” Braide said.
Our correspondent learnt that the second victim
(Ibe) was found in George’s house when the police got there.
In Ibe’s case, she wanted triplets. For that, she
had to pay N2.7m to George for the babies.
Like Cecilia, Ibe was referred to George by a
friend. She contacted the midwife few months after Cecilia did.
“After I went to Port Harcourt to meet the
midwife, I paid the N2.7m and I was given some herbs which I drank as concoction
regularly.
“My belly began to grow and my feet became
swollen too. The midwife told me not to go to the hospital for scan or any
ante-natal. I went to Port Harcourt to ask when I would be due for delivery.
“She told me I was not due yet. Since it was too
late to go back to Lagos, I slept over at her house. It was when I was there
that police came to arrest her.”
No one could have doubted that both Ibe and
Cecilia were pregnant as both women appeared with swollen tummies and feet.
George said her business was “helping women who
want to get pregnant.”
She told journalists, “I am 50 years old. I have
been doing this business for over a year. In the case of the other woman
(Cecilia), I was not the one who provided the babies.
“Helen Okoro, who introduced her to me, was the
one who brought the twins and we made it look like she was the one who delivered
them. It is true I collected N1.5m from her and N2.7m from the other woman.
“The herb I give them was to induce the swollen
tummies and feet. Helen Okoro has run away now.”
But George dodged questions as she was being
interviewed by journalists.
When asked about the name of the herbs and seeds
she gave to her customers, she replied, “I don’t know.”
Asked how many of such women she had ever
‘delivered’, she answered, “I cannot remember.”
Curiously, Cecilia said she was bleeding like a
freshly delivered mother during her ‘delivery’.
George provided a frightening insight into how
this was made possible.
“When we asked her to push, we used a blade to
cut part of her private part, so that she would bleed,” she said.
George denied knowledge of where the babies given
to Cecilia came from. She said Okoro was responsible for that part of the
deal.
This case is coming on the heels of the recent
discovery of some baby factories in Abia and Enugu recently.
The police have yet to confirm if the babies
involved in this case were bought from one of such factories.
Pix from Saturday Punch. LOOD Naija
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