32 teens freed in Nigeria "baby factory" raid

Police have raided a house in southeast Nigeria being used as an illegal "baby factory," where young women were allegedly forced to bear children to be sold into the sex trade and for manual labor, according to French news agency AFP.

Police commissioner for Abia state, Bala Hassan, told AFP the house in Aba was raided over the weekend, "following a report that pregnant girls aged between 15 and 17 are being made to make babies for the proprietor."

"We rescued 32 pregnant girls and arrested the proprietor who is undergoing interrogation over allegations that he normally sells the babies to people who may use them for rituals or other purposes," Hassan said.

Some of the pregnant teens taken into protective custody during the raid said their children fetched prices of about $192 on the human trafficking market, which is rife in Nigeria.

Hassan told AFP the proprietor of the alleged "baby factory" could face a prison sentence of 14 years for the buying or selling of children.

According to the report, a network of such illicit homes was busted in 2008, revealing the extent of the problem in the West African nation.