A baby factory hospital disguising as Mother and Child Hospital and Maternity has been bursted by the Anambra State Government at Umunya in Oyi Local Government Area of the State.
The facility located at No 1 School Road Tansian University, Umunya, was bursted by the State Ministry of Health Facility, Accreditation and Monitoring Unit (ASHEFAAMU), after series of investigation and surveillance.
It was gathered that the facility was harbouring pregnant little girls of between 14 to 21 years, to give birth to babies for them.
Some of the underaged girls, about five of them, who spoke to our correspondent, revealed how the self-acclaimed medical doctor in charge of the hospital, one Mr. Odili Ossai from Delta State, who is now at large, normally sell their babies and they go home with nothing.
The State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Afam Obidike while addressing news men at the illegal facility, reaffirmed the commitment of Gov. Charles Soludo’s led administration to stamping out quacks from the state health system.
Describing the discovery as shocking and unbelievable, Obidike said, “When we arrived here for our normal routine hospital inspection, we discovered that these under-aged girls are kept here against their wish.
“We decided to see the doctor and obviously there was no doctor in the hospital and all the seven nurses we saw locked us outside and ran away.
“Our security people comprising OCHA-Brigade, Civil Defence and Police later came to assist us in gaining access to the facility.
“Unfortunately, we found out that in our data system, they are not registered and that’s why we came to verify and know what is happening here and you can see for yourself the discoveries.
“We saw pregnant little girls of 14-16-17-21 years of age being camped here in order to give birth to babies for them,” he revealed.
The Commissioner said the Anambra State Health Facility Accreditation and Monitoring Unit, with the approval from Mr. Governor, has equally established the State Illegal and Anti-Quackery Taskforce Team.
“This is also in line with the directive of Gov. Charles Soludo who is determined to eliminate from the state, all illegal health facilities and quackery.
“It is also worthy to note that the State Ministry of Health have successfully built a database website that will give people easy access to approved and registered health facilities in the State.
“So, we are here because the primary objective of the taskforce team is to eliminate illegal and unethical sharp practices within health facilities across the state.
“We want to promote transparency and encourage the public to report any observed illegal activities, malpractices or concerns related to healthcare services to these dedicated mobile hotline-08057655442, 09135169905 and 07013197263,” he said.
The Commissioner cautioned quacks operating hospitals to shut down immediately, noting that the long arm of the law will eventually catch up with them.
