BREEDING BABIES FOR SALE

Published in the Punch, Wednesday, February 18, 2004

By Tajudeen Suleiman

Dear Networkers,
Kenneth Uzoma Akunna is not a quack doctor. If his academic record which he gave to our correspondent is to be taken as gospel truth, he is a thorough bred physician with a Bachelor of Medicine from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and holder of certificate of post graduates studies in medicine from the University of Illinois in the United States.

But the question of qualification apart, Akunna s at the centre of an alleged criminality that observers say is of a sacrilegious order. The police have not only arrested him for sedating pregnant teenagers and selling their babies, but have also charged him to court.
Akunna was arrested following a tip off by the parent of a girl who allegedly escaped from a house where he keeps pregnant girls until they are delivered.

The police commissioner in charge of Enugu Command, Morrison Abey, confirmed to pressmen on Friday, February 6, 2004, that a doctor who sedates pregnant teenagers, and sells their babies, had been arrested.

Though the commissioner refused to divulge the name of the arrested doctor, top police sources confirmed to our correspondent that the detained doctor is indeed Dr. Kenneth Uzoma Akunna.

According to the girls, when a pregnant girl comes to his clinic for abortion, the doctor gives them an injection which puts them in a coma. They are then taken to the hide-out at Independence Layout, where they are kept until delivery period.

After delivery, the babies are then sold to buyers who are either ritualists or people who are prepared to follow all the legal procedures required for adoption. They add that the babies are sold for between two to three hundred thousand naira each, depending on the sex of the baby.

Some of the girls also alleged that the doctor used them as sex objects, especially the pretty ones among them. In Enugu, the only notice that the two-storey building in which Akunna practices houses a clinic is a white painted tabloid-size board on which is painted: Uzoma Medical and Maternity Complex Annex.

Located on Number 6, Inyi Street, at the medium density Achara Layout, Dr. Ken. Akunna's clinic is the second flat on the first floor of the building. Once you step into the reception room of the three bedroom clinic, however, it becomes obvious that a thriving gynaecology business goes on there.

At 1.p.m last Monday when our correspondent got to the clinic, the reception room was still filled with young girls waiting for the "expert" attention of Akunna. They sat in rows on the long cushioned benches provided for patients.

The oldest of the girls may not be more than 23 years. A middle-age woman also sat in a corner, dozing. There was no nurse in the room, even though her seat was there. One initially thought the "patients" were unaware of the arrest and detention of their doctor, by the police for camping pregnant girls and selling their babies, but after enquiries, it became obvious again that the girls (patients) were not getting the right information.

When our correspondent asked to see any member of the clinic staff on duty, one of the girls went into an inner office, and came back to say: "they are coming". But after waiting for about thirty minutes without anyone coming out, our correspondent knocked at the door of the room. There were two fat ladies sitting casually in the room, with a young girl sitting on a lower stool. They wore long faces, apparently they had been discussing the travails of their proprietor.

"Please can I see Dr Ken Akunna, I have a message for him"?, the reporter asked.

"Sorry, Dr. Akunna is not around now" one of the ladies replied, eyeing the reporter suspiciously. "When are you expecting him in the clinic?", the reporter asked again "Check by Thursday or Friday this week, I'm sure he will be back then".

Attempts to speak to the waiting patients were rebuffed as most of them were unwilling to talk on what brought them to the clinic, or the whereabouts of Akunna.

Since the news of the doctor's arrest broke, various segments of the society have been expressing a feeling of shock at it. For instance, Enugu State Government, under the governorship of Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani is dazed that the kind of practice that has been attributed to Akunna could be happening under its nose.

The State Commissioner for Information, Chief Eze Ayogu, who witnessed the rescue of the 17 pregnant girls from a hide out belonging to Akunna stressed that although the police were still investigating the case, government was embarrassed by the development: "We were completely taken unawares, " he said, adding, "indeed the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development had already been put on red alert to investigate maternities and orphanages to make sure we don't have such practices again.

The Ministry has been reinvigorated and they have already commenced their supervision of maternity homes and orphanages. In fact, that is the major reason why the doctor in question took the girls out of his clinic and camped them somewhere else. It was to avoid the searching eyes of the officials of the ministry, but the law still caught up with him when one of the girls escaped and reported the matter.

Despite the said confession by the victim, however, the 50-year old gynaecologist claims he is innocent. In an interview with our correspondent, Akunna noted that since the case had already got to court, he would not want to make any statements that could prejudice its proceedings. But while admitting that the police went into his maternity welfare home, and "collected its inmates - young teenage girls who are in various stages of pregnancy, and later arrested me", he insists: "I am not guilty.

He continued: "The girls are just …., you see, my intention is to protect the unborn babies. That's just what I'm doing. All those girls were pregnant before they got to the home. They were not impregnated in the home. They were just there to make sure their babies and themselves are looked after until they deliver. And when they do, we make sure that these babies were adopted by deserving couples through the Social Welfare Department of the Ministry of Women Affairs. That is to say, they follow the lawful way of adoption."

The allegation that some of these girls went to the clinic for abortion, and end up in this home without their consent is rubbish. Naturally, many of them are not married. The pregnancies are unwanted. When they come in to the clinic with late pregnancies, we try to advise them about the risk of abortion; the fact that abortion is illegal and un-Christian. So we try to convince them to help their babies. There's no force or drugging of anybody. Those allegations are fallacies.

He also denied the claim that he kept the girls so that when they were delivered of their babies, he sold their babies to ritualists and make huge money. The babies are adopted by deserving couples, and we use the Social Welfare Department who even monitor the babies up to nursery and primary schools. They interview the couple, know their means of livelihood, know whether they can take care of those babies. I don't think any ritualist will go through the long process of getting papers and al that. I have papers required for adoption, that even extends to the High Court, papers that will give you final custody of the baby. The papers are all with my lawyers.

"You see, I don't have authority to give out a baby. What I do is that when you come for adoption, I will give you a paper, the welfare department is the final person who will give you the authority, through the high court. I just do the initial thing, you know. I will give you a paper, you then go to social welfare and register. They will open a file for you. I have all these documents.

"I showed the police all the documents. The only thing happening is that, you see, I don't want to go into any details."
Asked when he started the home, Akunna said he got approval to run the home from the Ministry of Women Affairs in 1997.

"Then in the year 2000, they gave me the permanent approval after investigating my activities and finding that there was nothing wrong with the home."

The doctor recalled that he attended the G.M.D.S. Onitsha, where he had Grde One distinction. From there he proceeded to the University of Nigeria, Nsukka where he had his Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery with distinction in Pharmacology and Physiology. He later did a post-graduate course at the University of Illinois in the United States, before establishing the clinic. "I'm fully registered with the Nigerian Medical Association. My hospital is fully registered with the Enugu State Ministry of Health", he added.

"I have been in practice for more than 20 years. I graduated in 1978. Had he ever had any case with the police throughout these years of practice? His reply was no.

Does he belong to a cult?

"I have never and will never belong to any secret society or cult. I believe in God and I worship God. I am a Knight of the Church. In fact I believe this is the work of the devil, and I know that with time the truth will prevail."

The police slammed a 25 count charge of abduction of underage girls for forceful sexual intercourse, on the popular gynaecologist.

Police prosecutors last Tuesday formally charged him to the Chief Magistrate's court Enugu, along with two of his female staff: Stella Anike (23) and Nnadikwu Chinyere (22).

In the charge No. ME/53/C/2004, Akunna is accused of abducting 12 teenagers under the age of 17, and allegedly having sexual intercourse with them.

The names of the girls are listed as: Ebere Nwafor, Amaka Ede, Nwakaego Okoro, Chioma Eze, Igwe Ogechi, Akalaka Agu, Emelda Dennis, and Ifeoma Eze. Others are: Chinyere Ogbonna, Ndidiamaka Okwo, Adamma Edeh, Nkiruka Okafor.

One of the charges reads: "That you Dr. Kenneth Uzoma "M" on the 1st day of October 2003, at No. 9 Nnobi Street, New Haven, Enugu, in the Enugu Magistrate District did administer or caused one Ebere Nwafor 'F' to take drug or other things.
"With intent to stupefy or overpower her in order to enable you have unlawful carnal knowledge and thereby committed an offence punishable under section 208 © of the criminal code, cap 36, Vol. 1, laws of Anambra State of Nigeria 1986, applicable to Enugu State.

Akunna pleaded 'not guilty' to all the charges , and the case was adjourned till March 30, 2004. His lawyers: G.C. Oguaghe and Tagbo Ike who spoke to our correspondent on Wednesday, said their client had a good case and that the court would find him innocent.

But even as the case is now ultimately at the mercy of the court, there are some aspects of the allegation and investigation on which many people are raising some fundamental questions. For one, the whereabouts of the 17 girls evacuated from Uzoma's Home are unknown as what is so far available are pieces of conflicting information on them.

Efforts to talk to the girls proved abortive as they are said to be under police protection. The Commissioner for Information, Eze Ayaogu, told our correspondent that since investigations were still on, the girls were still being protected. Some of the girls who had been release, he said, had all named the local government areas where they came from. He said they were not based in Enugu.

He added: "But all I can tell you is that, moved by the situation of the girls, the Governor of Enugu State, Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani, has provided a comfortable accommodation for them, and its taking care of their welfare. The government is taking them to hospital for proper ante-natal and general medicare. We are taking care of the girls until probably when they are able to reunite with their kith and kin, and fully discharged by the police".

Had the government initiated any contact with the parents of the girls? The commissioner said: "That is the job of the police. According to the police, some of them had pictures that their parents ha brought to the station saying that they were missing. So, the police may have some linkages with the parents. And I think they are making effort in that direction." But investigations by our correspondent indicated that there may be a high level connivance in the medical scam, and Akunna may just be a scapegoat.

A top official of the state's Social Welfare Department has allegedly been incriminated by the doctor, and police have actually arrested her for questioning. It is also curious that the police did not seal off Akunna's clinic, in spite of revelations about his activities. And why was the police trying to hide his identity?

Many attempts to get the Police Commissioner's comment on these issues did not yield fruit as at press time. The Commissioner's Secretary said he was attending an important meeting with his officers, and advised the reporter to check , "tomorrow". The Police Public Relation's Officer, Shehu Adamu, could not be reached either, as he was yet to come back from the holy pilgrimage to Mecca.

The reporter was referred to the acting PPRO Clement Ugwechi, who said he did not know anything about the matter as it was being handled by the Criminal Investigation Department. "I cant tell you anything, because I don't have any information. They have not briefed us on their investigations", Ugwechi told our correspondent. He advised the reporter to come back later in the day to see a superior officer who may have information. The reporter came back many times, but the officer was never seen.

The reporter, upon private enquiries, was told that only the Commissioner of Police could give the necessary information and answer enquiries on the matter.