A
PROMINENT Catholic Bishop (names withheld) and some Indian Reverend
sisters were yesterday arrested by the Anambra Police command over the
discovery of about 20 pregnant teenagers suspected to be raised as baby
factories.A woman whose baby boy was allegedly sold off by the clerics was believed to have blown the lid off the scandal.
The bishop and the Reverend sisters were seen at the state Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Police command as early as 10am yesterday, but their telephones were immediately switched off.
It was learnt that the bishop was released after hours of interrogation, but the Reverend sisters were still being detained at press time.
The medical home being run by the church was accused of providing shelter to scores of pregnant teenage girls, but their babies were thereafter given out to those who could pay required sums.
The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in the state, Emeka Chukwuemeka confirmed the investigation of the allegation but declined to disclose whether those being investigated over it were the Bishop and the Reverend Sisters.
He said: “I don’t know about the arrest of any bishop or reverend sisters.
But you should know that people are not
allowed to use their phones when they are at the state CID. They may
have switched off their phones.”
The PPRO said the police in the state arrested some persons at a home belonging to the church around Onitsha area some days ago following a petition by an aggrieved person.
He said: “Somebody who was aggrieved sent a petition to the Commissioner of Police which is the normal procedure. The police went into the petition and some persons were arrested and investigation is on-going, but we will not give you information further than that because of the nature of the matter and persons involved.”
On the content of the petition that triggered off the investigation, the PPRO said: “Somebody petitioned the Commissioner of Police that she gave birth to a baby boy at the home and that after the normal time, they asked her to pay a fee. After her husband came and paid, the petitioner said that the child was not given back to her. That is the petition that we are treating.
“We want to establish that somebody, somewhere is not benefiting from an illegal arrangement. We want to serve the cause of justice; we want to serve the cause of humanity, and that is exactly what we are doing.”
The pregnant teens were arrested yesterday in a Catholic compassionate home in Nkpor, near Onitsha. The home, it was gathered, was established about 10 years ago to take care of unwanted pregnancies by teenagers. The home in such circumstances would take care of such teens from pregnancy to delivery.
If the teens fail to claim the babies, the church would look for foster parents and assign them the babies on terms agreed on, which more often would involve payment of money by the surrogate parents.
The PPRO said the police in the state arrested some persons at a home belonging to the church around Onitsha area some days ago following a petition by an aggrieved person.
He said: “Somebody who was aggrieved sent a petition to the Commissioner of Police which is the normal procedure. The police went into the petition and some persons were arrested and investigation is on-going, but we will not give you information further than that because of the nature of the matter and persons involved.”
On the content of the petition that triggered off the investigation, the PPRO said: “Somebody petitioned the Commissioner of Police that she gave birth to a baby boy at the home and that after the normal time, they asked her to pay a fee. After her husband came and paid, the petitioner said that the child was not given back to her. That is the petition that we are treating.
“We want to establish that somebody, somewhere is not benefiting from an illegal arrangement. We want to serve the cause of justice; we want to serve the cause of humanity, and that is exactly what we are doing.”
The pregnant teens were arrested yesterday in a Catholic compassionate home in Nkpor, near Onitsha. The home, it was gathered, was established about 10 years ago to take care of unwanted pregnancies by teenagers. The home in such circumstances would take care of such teens from pregnancy to delivery.
If the teens fail to claim the babies, the church would look for foster parents and assign them the babies on terms agreed on, which more often would involve payment of money by the surrogate parents.
COMPASS
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