James
Ezuma, a medical doctor nabbed by the police in Owerri, Imo State, for
operating baby factories, is the face of child trafficking in Nigeria.
The
glassy signpost with blue, white and black lettering promises would-be
visitors succour. Its delicate frame announces to the public the
presence of a private hospital. Near this board is another with less
aesthetic appeal on a lonely street off Egbu Road, in Owerri metropolis,
which announces to the vulnerable, a place of refuge.
 |
| The signboard of the ‘hospital’ |
The
wordings on this board, strong enough to comfort even the most
disheartened, have been revealed as a decoy to perpetrate evil. The
place is “Ezuma Women and Children Rights Protection Initiative. FG
Approved NGO Homeless Babies Home,” which, until last month, was the
epicentre of child trafficking, with a baby production regime, as if in
an industrial factory, in full swing.
At
the peak of his career, Dr. James Ezuma, who claims to have studied at
the University of Jos, was the poster child of successful medical
practice. His vast empire, including real estate, posh automobiles and
women, advertised him as a man who attained success through dedicated
commitment to his profession.
His
physical wealth was complemented by a long list of clientele and
friends in political and business circles. This probably explains why,
with impunity, he could operate his purported hospital and
Non-Governmental Organisation, NGO, in a building for which proper
building permit was never obtained.
Yet,
he was there for many years without the concerned officials raising
eyebrows. For the sheer size of his wealth, the undiscerning public held
him in awe. The church bestowed a knighthood on him for his commitment
to charity! This was before the police flashed their detective klieg
lights on his activities.
 |
| Ezuma: Serial polygamist with his third wife |
What they saw however, negates the very essence of the medical guild. In Aba, the commercial nerve centre of Abia State where Ezuma operated from before he was declared wanted, the 65-year-old drew respect and fear in nearly equal proportions. His five-storey ‘hospital and charity home’ on 101 Okigwe Road, Aba, was frequented by high-heeled guests and ‘patients’ who visited mostly at night in sleek automobiles.
Their
purpose: to purchase a child. The cost of land in the eternally busy
Okigwe Road is estimated at N10 million per plot. Sources say the
magnificent edifice may have been erected on over five plots of land.
Neighbours and passers-by who dared prey into his activities in this
fortress suffered losses as a result.
A
former associate of his told this magazine that any medical
practitioner, who challenged his baby dealer’s reptilian practices,
suffered either physical harm or had his clinic shut down. His network
of friends, some believed to be in privileged positions of government,
ensured that he never suffered harassments.
And
when he did, they made escape routes available to him. Competent
sources in the police force say he had been detained by the police but
on such occasions, he was let off the hook.
Deception: The signboard contravened what happened in the ‘home’
The
building which has been demolished by the Abia State government
following its owner’s arrest in Owerri, was a den where innocent
children were herded as raw material for his baby production factory.
Here, Ezuma, working in tandem with his network of collaborators,
brought girls, some pregnant, claiming to help provide anti- and
post-natal services to them.
Thereafter,
the impostor claimed he offered them humanitarian services such as
rehabilitating the teenage girls, while offering the children out on
adoption. The inside of his so-called hospital before it was pulled
down, fared even less than a dispensary.
With
a promise of good life and health care cover for the unborn child, the
girls were coerced to give up their children for pittance, sometimes as
low as N50,000 to N200,000. The methods of harvesting the babies, this
magazine learnt, were debasing of the ethics of gynaecological practice.
Using induced labour and crude delivery methods, Ezuma reportedly
harvested even unripe pregnancies to satisfy his patrons.
Although
he made little noise about his sleight-of-the hand child production
prowess in public, Ezuma was the definition of impudence. Following
several half-spirited battles by the police with him in Abia State,
Ezuma, who hails from Ndiokeke Ndiakunwata, Arondizuogu, Ideato North
LGA, Imo State, fled homewards. Owerri was where he relocated his lair
and operational headquarters.
Ezuma’s non-governmental organisation,
sited on a virgin expanse of land was work-in-progress. With a storey
building in advanced stage of completion, the multi-acre plot is
littered with materials procured for building projects. On the left
entrance to the facility is a small wooden house used for a church. The
church
previously had a land-related squabble with the doctor.
previously had a land-related squabble with the doctor.
Decrepit environment where the pregnant girls lived
The main building that housed his
family served as the ‘consulting’ as well as ‘delivery’ wards of the
hospital. The rest of the vast landmass is used for the cultivation of
cassava, which separates the administrative area from the girls’ or
patients’ ward. The environment where the innocent girls lived froths
with weeds and dirt. The living conditions were as decrepit as the
character of the man who ran the home.
Eight girls were confined in each of
the two rooms, with neither ventilation nor permanent windows and doors.
Gloom surrounds the ambience. It was in the quietude that pervades the
place that the Ambush Squad of the Imo State Police Command nabbed him
pants down, setting free 16 innocent girls, many of them at various
stages of pregnancy.
Conservative estimates indicate that
Ezuma’s land in Owerri values at hundreds of millions of naira. The
structures at several stages of completion in the compound are evaluated
at over N20 million. His deep pocket also reflected in his wealth. And
he relished the comfort. Among the vehicles recovered from him were: a
Jaguar, two Chrysler cars, a Lincoln Navigator, a Honda Jeep, a Nissan
Quest, a Pathfinder Sports Utility Vehicle and three unidentified
others.
The Imo State Police Commissioner,
Muhammad Musa Katsina, said: “Have you seen Ezuma’s vehicles? When you
see them, you will know the value of these vehicles. For goodness sake,
in a disciplined country like Nigeria, how can somebody have 10 exotic
cars without any single documentation? With impunity, they were all
parked there, without a single documentation.”
Ezuma’s posh autos
Ezuma’s libertine inclinations are not
limited to pecuniary benefits. His philandering is also legendary. “His
marriage to his first wife failed sometime ago. The woman, a lawyer,
left him because of his criminal tendencies which she condemned. The one
he lived with until he was caught was actually their house-help. And
he’s got other concubines,” a source who knew him closely said. In his
world, beautiful women are complemented by lush automobiles!
Nkrumah Bankong-Obi Apart from
indulgence in child trafficking, the police allegedly found an
unregistered firearm in his home. This forms a fraction of the 18-count
charges leveled against him in court. This adds up to the fact that his
medical licence was seized by the Nigerian Medical Association, NMA, for
improper conduct.
In the real sense of the word, Ezuma
was not operating a hospital. In the words of Katsina: “You don’t need
to be a medical doctor to know what qualities a place should have to be a
hospital. Here is a man who is in his 60s who calls himself a medical
doctor and said: Dr. Ezuma Private Hospital. What is the definition of a
hospital?
When you go inside, it was the same
doctor that was the chief medical director, he was the matron, the
consultant gynaecologist. His wife who had never seen the four walls of
any health institution is a consultant gynaecologist. Ezuma trained her
in his hospital, trained her in his university, of which he is the
provost of the college of medicine; he is everything.
And yet, after graduating his wife, she
came out without a certificate. Yet she was the one delivering babies.
In the same hospital, ask them, where are the beddings, where is the
labour room? Find out if you can get any injectable material. Even
ordinary iodine or panadol is not there. It was a crude way of
delivery.”
Katsina described Ezuma as an animal in human form, too dangerous to mankind.
No comments:
Post a Comment