BADAGRY — She does not want her name published. She is still processing what happened. But she wants people to know that her baby, a girl she has named Grace, was born inside a room in a compound in Badagry where she had been held against her will for months.
She arrived in Nigeria six months pregnant. The traffickers who held her knew she was expecting. They did not care. When her time came, there was no hospital. There was only the compound and the other women who were also being held there. They helped each other.
“Grace was born there. In that place. But she did not belong there. She belongs to the life I am going to build for us now,” the woman said in a conversation facilitated by a NSCDC social worker who accompanied her after the rescue operation at the Torikoh area compound in Badagry.
An Unimaginable Ordeal
NSCDC operatives who conducted the rescue said the discovery of a newborn baby and two other pregnant women among the 17 rescued victims was one of the most emotionally difficult moments of the operation. Officers said the sight of a baby born in a trafficking compound brought home the full horror of what the criminal network was doing.
The Commandant of the Lagos NSCDC said the unit has requested dedicated psychological and medical support for the woman and her baby. He said the agency cannot simply rescue victims and hand them to immigration services. It has a duty to ensure that survivors receive the care they need to rebuild their lives.
The baby, Grace, is healthy. Her mother is physically recovering. The psychological recovery will take much longer. NAPTIP said it is coordinating with international organisations to provide comprehensive survivor support. The mother’s home country authorities have been informed. Repatriation will happen when she is ready and when appropriate care arrangements are confirmed at the receiving end.
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