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.
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.
Source: Punch
No comments:
Post a Comment
WE APPRECIATE YOUR COMMENT. THIS IS KAF COMMUNITY