19 pregnant women freed from Nigerian 'baby factory' where their babies were sold for up to $2000 each

The victims appear on a local TV station in Lagos after the arrests.

Police in Nigeria say they have rescued 19 pregnant girls and young women who had been kidnapped, impregnated and forced to give birth to babies which were then sold.

Lagos police spokesman Bala Elkana said the victims - aged between 15 and 28 - and four babies were rescued from four locations in the Ikotun area of Lagos. The victims, who are mainly from eastern Nigeria, said they were tricked into coming to Lagos with the promise of getting job as domestic staff.

Elkana said two suspects have been arrested, and a manhunt launched for the lead suspect.

Nigeria has a high incidence of syndicates that keep young women to produce babies for sale, which have locally been termed "baby factories."

Men took it in turns to rape and impregnate the women, officers said.

The police spokesman said the price of a baby girl is around $1325, while a boy can be up to $2200.

A few of the women joined the syndicate voluntarily believing they would be paid - but told police they had not been given any money, The Guardian Nigeria reported.

Officers were alerted to the presence of the factory mid-September after receiving a tip-off from neighbours about a lot of pregnant women in their street.

One of the rescued women told a local newspaper that she borrowed money to travel from her home village to Lagos on the promise of house work, the Daily Mail reported.

Police said the women are now undergoing rehabilitation.

When she arrived in the city her phone was taken from her and she was brought to the "factory" where she was told she would remain for up to a year.

The woman said that, at first, she was used as a prostitute and slept with "customers" each night before falling pregnant.

She was then moved to a different building and told that, if she carried the baby to term, she would be "paid handsomely" and allowed to leave.

Police said the women are now undergoing rehabilitation so they can be resettled in the city, and the investigation is ongoing.

Baby factories are not uncommon in Nigeria - last week a one-week-old baby was saved from an illegal trade syndicate in Lagos, while another huge raid last year rescued 160 children.