Nigerian Police Free 32 Pregnant Teens From Baby 'baby farms'

Police in Nigeria freed 32 teen girls from an alleged \"baby factory\" used to feed the region's exploding sex trade and human trafficking markets, authorities said.

Cops in the southe Nigerian city of Aba raided the clinic, known as The Cross Foundation, Monday after receiving a tip that the owner was harboring pregnant girls and selling their babies, Nigeria's Daily Champion newspaper reported.

Some of the girls, who were between 15 and 17, told authorities that the clinic's owner, Dr. Hyacinth Orikara, forced them to sell their babies to him for around $190, depending on the gender, Agence France-Presse reported.

\"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,\" police commissioner Bala Hassan said.

Orikara could face up to 14 years in prison for selling babies, authorities said.

The doctor denied the charges, telling the Champion that the clinic cared for teenagers with unwanted pregnancies.

The women were transferred to the regional headquarters of an anti-trafficking organization, authorities said.

\"Baby factories\" or \"baby farms\" are common in weste Africa.

The organizations sell newbos to the highest bidder, and the children often end up being used as factory workers, mine workers or sex slaves.

Human trafficking is ranked the third most common crime in Nigeria, after fraud and drug trafficking, according to the UN.