The Activities Of “Baby Factories” In South-Eastern Nigeria, And Their Impacts On The Education And Wellbeing Of The Victims
Maria Charity Agbo Ph.D
Department of Educational Psychology, Federal College of Education, Eha-Amufu, Enugu State of Nigeria.
Keywords: baby factory, poverty, corruption, sexual abuse, school dropout
Abstract
Baby factory is a term used in Nigeria to describe a location where criminal activities of harbouring girls of school age with unwanted pregnancies against their will and selling their babies when they are delivered take place. Sometimes girls who are not pregnant are deceived or kidnapped and kept in “baby factories” where they are impregnated for the same purpose of selling their babies. This study investigated the activities of baby factories in South-Eastern Nigeria and their impacts on the education and well being of the victims. This work used descriptive survey design. The population of the study was the entire parents and teachers in South-Eastern Nigeria. 600 respondents were selected using random sampling technique. Out of the 600 respondents, 200 comprising 100 parents and 100 teachers were drawn from each of 3 states selected from South-East (200x3 = 600). Oral interview and self structured questionnaire containing 18 items were used for data collection. The data collected were analyzed using mean scores and standard deviations. Findings revealed poverty, corruption, human trafficking among others as the reasons for baby factories in South-Eastern Nigeria. The findings also identified school dropout, denial of basic education, emotional trauma among others as the impacts of baby factories on the victims. Recommendations were made by the researcher.