Barren spouses of some senior officials have been arrested for ‘buying’ babies from Nigeria.

The authorities in Niger on June 25, 2014, announced the arrest of several wives of some senior government officials for alleged trafficking in Nigerian babies, Radio France Internationale, RFI reported.

The suspects include one of the wives of the Speaker of Parliament, Hama Amadou, that of the Minister of State for Agriculture, Abdou Labo, and the three spouses of a former bank official. They were picked up earlier this week for returning from Nigeria with sets of twins. In all, over 30 suspects were arrested, including civil status and health workers, intermediaries, married women and their spouses. Judicial sources said that they are expected to be put on trial soon, except Abdou Labo and Hama Amadou, because of their immunity.

The investigations, which lasted several months, involved Niger, Nigeria and Benin Republic operatives. According to prosecutors, barren Niger women take advantage of the alleged existence of the so-called ‘baby factories’ in Nigeria to buy children after pretending to be pregnant. The suspects are said to have bought the babies in Ondo State in the south-western part of the country.

News of the scam comes at a time when Niger boasts one of the highest rates of fertility in the world, with the average woman having 7.6 children. Officials say Niger’s child adoption laws are not too complicated, but an increasing number of desperate, childless couples are resorting to buying babies from Nigeria. Most of the mothers of such babies are said to be victims of undesirable pregnancies or poor women who themselves opt to deliver in some private clinics where they can later sell their children.