Hello Fellow Steemians, it's another new week, and I'm happy to be here once again. In my introduce me post, I said that one of my major objectives on Steemit is to impact my generation through this medium and also meet great minds and so far it has been a lovely journey and meeting the #familyprotection family is one of the best things that have happened to me because finally I have an opportunity to pursue a course here on Steemit.
In my country Nigeria, we do not have very functional Government run Child Protection Services, but here it is more of a private thing. Most of the orphanages and foster homes are private owned, and most owners of these homes now run it for personal enrichment, but that is not the topic for today.
In the African tradition, it is frowned upon for a girl to get pregnant outside wedlock and when this happens, the girls most times are neglected and even thrown out by their families, most especially when the young man involved denies responsibility for the pregnancy, this has become an avenue for making money for some people .
People now set up care centers where they welcome girls who are pregnant and don't have any one to take adequate care of them, they accept these young women, they advice them not to terminate the pregnancy, that they will take care of them until they put to bed and they will not collect any money from them, but unfortunately these homes have turned to what is now known as baby factories.
Now after taking these girls in, they take care of them until delivery, it is at this point that the problem now starts, they will now ask the girls to pay for all the food they ate and all the care they got while under their care, they give these girls outrageous bills ranging from half a million naira to two million naira.
When these girls that were abandoned by their families can't raise such money, they take their newborn babies from them and throw them out, and in some cases they pay the girls some little amount of money, which is actually peanuts. These babies are then sold to rich buyers who are sometimes childless couples who either adopt them as their own children, or sometimes they are sold to ritualists who use them for rituals.
Formerly, the government through security agencies were always going after such fake care homes and in most cases rescue the pregnant girls, but lately the owners of such homes now bribe the top ranking officers in the security agencies, and they are left alone, even if they are arrested, they are secretly let off the hook, and they go back to their illicit businesses.
This business is thriving, in fact it is booming, as it has now become a multi-million naira making venture and the law enforcement agencies are turning a blind eye on the perpetrators only arresting a few who refuse to pay heavy amounts as bribes.
Below are a few excerpts of some of the few arrests made, you can read up:
These young girls are left in sorrow, never to see their children, they don't even know who is in posession of their babies, or what have become of their babies, some become so depressed that their lives can never remain the same again, while some wicked men make huge amounts of money from selling their babies.
It is time we lend our voices and stop this evil business and protect these families. These are not just stories, it is happening around us.
I support #familyprotection let us all join hands and support this course.