The Hidden Baby Trafficking Crisis Around Campuses: How Unexpected Labor Saved a 20-year-old young Mom`s Baby from a Syndicate

On the morning of 19 November 2025, a frantic call reached the Advocacy desk of CSAAE, which I manage as the advocacy officer.

A group of university students in Eziobodo, a community that hosts parts of the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO), reported that a newborn baby, barely 18 hours old, was on the brink of being trafficked.

It was a distress signal that would unravel one of the most disturbing trends quietly spreading across Owerri West LGA of Imo State and Southeast in general: The targeted trafficking of newborns delivered by young, vulnerable girls.

Precious, a 20-year-old 200-level student, left her home in Mbaise determined to make her family proud.

But her dreams began to crumble when she discovered she was pregnant. Like many girls in similar situations, she hid the pregnancy out of fear.

A medical abnormality known as cryptic pregnancy meant she still saw her period and showed few physical signs until she was already five months in.

When she finally told the man responsible, he led her deeper into danger.

He sent her to Aba, Abia State, promising that a “nurse” would help her “solve the problem.” But the nurse had a different plan.

When abortion wasn’t possible, she offered Precious something darker.

 “A couple is looking for a baby. After delivery, you can hand the child over.”

Precious said she never agreed to sell her baby. She only expressed fear, fear of dropping out of school, fear of disappointing her parents, fear of facing disgrace. Her vulnerability became the traffickers’ entry point.

She was instructed to return to Aba on 23–24 November for delivery at the “nurse’s clinic,” where the baby was already being priced and prepared for sale.

On 17 November, before she could travel to Aba, Precious went into sudden labour at a small clinic in Eziobodo.

The trafficker, enraged that their plan had changed, immediately deployed three women to retrieve her and the newborn. They arrived at the student lodge to take the baby away.

But this time, Precious was not alone; she was weak from delivery and confided in her roommates.

Alarmed, they alerted the Umuchima Vigilante Group, who intercepted the operation.

One woman was arrested. while two escaped.

Arriving at the Umuchima Police station in Eziobodo, what we uncovered was chilling. Eziobodo: A New Trafficking Hub in Owerri West LGA of Imo State.

The Divisional Police Officer, SP Godwin, gave a shocking revelation: “This is not the first. This area is fast becoming the Ajegunle of Imo State, a hotspot for baby trafficking.”

According to the police:

Young girls who get pregnant secretly are specifically targeted by traffickers who pose as nurses, midwives, ‘helpers,’ and clinic operators, and their babies are sold between ₦800,000 and ₦1,000,000 or more. He further stated that the networks span Eziobodo, Umuchima, Umuokpo, Ihiagwa, and surrounding communities. To date, Several cases go unreported as students are a major target due to fear, poverty, and stigma.

Many of the transactions do not happen in traditional “baby factories. They happen quietly through: Off-record clinics, Unlicensed birth homes, Fake nurses, Middlewomen, Lodge-to-lodge negotiations. This makes the crime harder to trace and easier to spread.

The near-sale of Precious’ baby is not just a personal tragedy; it is a symbol of a deeper humanitarian crisis.

There is a Stigma around teenage pregnancy

Lack of student support systems

Absence of community awareness on trafficking

Weak monitoring of clinics

Economic desperation among young girls

Growing criminal networks are exploiting the campus surrounding communities.

Eziobodo and its neighboring areas have become hunting grounds for traffickers who see vulnerable students as easy targets.

If not addressed, more young girls will be exploited, more babies will disappear into illegal adoption rings, and more communities will descend into silent crises.