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The traditional institution in Imo State wielded the big stick on Wednesday when it banished the proprietress of an alleged baby factory, Madam One Thousand.
It also banished Dr. Chimezie Osigwe, a former Vice Principal and devotee of SatGuru Maharaj Ji who hid in his wardrobe the embalmed body of his 78-year-old mother, late Madam Lucy Osigwe declared missing a decade ago.
The proprietress of Ahamefula Motherless Babies Home in Njaba Local Government Area, where 26 pregnant teenagers were recently rescued is no longer to live in Imo State, the chairman of the State Council of Traditional Rulers, HRH Eze Samuel Ohiri decreed.
Eze Ohiri who was flanked by members of his executives stated that the action of the duo desecrated the land, adding that all forms of atrocities would no longer be tolerated in the state.
The monarch maintained that trafficking of babies and ritual killings are forbidden in Igbo land and attributed the rising cases of these crimes and others to disrespect to Igbo custom and traditions.
The police had recently smashed the baby factory and rescued the pregnant teenagers and also a staff of the ‘factory’ who allegedly impregnated the teen girls.
The police also recently stormed the shrine of a devotee of Satguru Maharaj Ji, Dr. Chimezie Osuigwe in Ejemekuru Community, Oguta LGA and discovered the corpse of his mother who was declared missing 10 years ago.
Dr. Osuigwe declined to speak publicly on the reason for preserving the body of his mother and keeping it in his wardrobe after he had given the impression that his mother was missing.
Meanwhile, the One Love Family of Satguru Maharaj Ji has disowned the action of Dr. Osigwe.
The Head of the Family described the keeping of the embalmed body of Madam Lucy Osigwe by her son as a ‘personal, private and family issue of the Osigwes.’
In a statement, the Family’s Media Precursor, Okop Okop said the incident has nothing to do with the spiritual movement.
It also flayed the Imo State Commissioner of Police, Mohammed Musa Katsina for what it termed his biases and unguarded statement on a matter that requires thorough investigation.
Meanwhile, Imo State Governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha has graciously ordered for the release of a whopping sum of N10 million naira for the upkeep of 24 under aged pregnant women rescued by the Imo State Police Command from a motherless babies home in Umuaka Community in the Njaba Local Government Area of the state.
Governor Okorocha who gave the order at the Government House, Owerri when the girls were brought before him recently also said the state has adopted them as children of the state, adding that their upkeep would be done through the office of the Imo First Lady.
The governor who was in the company of his wife, Nkechi and other members of the state executive council expressed shock at the plight of the girls who said they were forcibly taken to the home under camouflage.
He appealed to parents to learn how to accept or handle such situations instead of chasing them away from homes into wrong hands where they would be treated in such a way or killed or turned to baby making machines.
The governor has therefore ordered for the immediate closure of all illegal motherless babies home in the state, stressing that henceforth, all cases of adoption of children must have his approval or that of the first lady.
Governor Okorocha also ordered the immediate demolition of the motherless babies home in Umuezeala Uba and the hospital, as well as the maternity home at Umuaka where the girls were kept and later rescued by the police.
He condemned in all ramifications the idea of people making money from child trafficking and other illegal means in the state,
Speaking also, the wife of the governor, Nneoma Nkechi Okorocha thanked the governor for his fatherly role in the state and assured that she would take care of the pregnant girls entrusted in her care.
Mrs. Okorocha also assured that she would get a doctor to avoid any complications during the pregnancy and thanked God for making it possible for the crime to be exposed saying that “God is actually working in Imo State.”
In another development, Governor Okorocha has appealed to the church to partner with the state governor in its preparedness and determination to check crimes especially, armed robbery, child trafficking and kidnapping in the state.
The governor made the appeal during a meeting with the bishops under the aegis of the conference of Catholic Bishops of Nigeria appealed to them to inculcate in their teachings lesions against moral decadence and other societal ills prevalent in the society.
Kaigama who is the Catholic Bishop of Jos said that child trafficking and baby making factories were immoral and should not be encouraged.
