Popular Nigerian Hospital Gave Three Children To Unknown Persons After Their Mother Died
There is serious case of alleged child trafficking has emerged at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH) Ituku-Ozalla Enugu, where medical teams are accused of giving out three children to unknown parties after their mother died in the hospital.
It was learnt that the incident came to light when Mrs. Chinyere Jennifer James, a good Samaritan, reportedly received a distress call about the stranded children.
“I am Mrs. Chinyere Jennifer James, please link us to her family members,” she appealed in a video clip shared on Instagram.
According to James, the mother underwent an operation at UNTH and died, leaving behind three children. One child had already been given to a pastor, while the other two were left in the hospital due to a lack of family contact.
“I immediately rushed to Enugu UNTH and met a doctor who narrated what happened,” James said. The doctor explained that the woman was with her two children, and when asked about relatives, they said they were alone.
“The woman was with her two children – we have been coming asking where are the relatives; they said they were the only ones. So when the woman died, we now asked the elderly one about their father; she said their father is not around; do they have any other person; they said the person is coming in November. Am I going to carry them to my house? Of course, no,” the doctor said.
James questioned the hospital’s actions, asking why they couldn’t contact human rights organisations or the Ministry of Gender.
“We asked whether they don’t have a human rights section where they would have reported or handed them over or alternatively sent them to the Ministry of Gender,” she said.
The doctor allegedly requested N20,000 to return the children, prompting James to accuse the hospital of child trafficking. “After an argument with this doctor, we were asked to send N20k to the lady who left with those children so that she can return them – our intention was to hand them over to human rights and see how we can get in touch with her family so that they can pick them up,” James explained.
James expressed outrage, questioning the hospital’s motives. “I was so angry that I had to ask the doctor if this is how you people have been selling children in the hospital. Anybody who just has issues – hospitalised and she died, you will sell her kids or you just give them out to an unknown party because you cannot take care of them and you cannot equally contact human rights organisations to come and look into the case.”
The whereabouts of the children are currently unknown, and their mother remains in the mortuary.
James is appealing for help to locate the family and ensure the children’s safety. “Child trafficking has to stop, and at the moment, we don’t know where these children are, and their mother is still in the mortuary. Please help us,” she pleaded.
In September, hospital was embroiled in a case of negligence surrounding one Mrs. Charity Unachukwu, who passed away on September 20, 2025, after being admitted following a car accident.
Charity’s sister, Phina Unachukwu Ezeagwu, in a post shared on her Facebook page, had expressed the family’s pain, saying, “UNTH killed my sister with negligence of duty.” The family experienced a “heartbreaking ordeal” at UNTH, citing delays and poor medical response that ultimately led to Charity’s demise.
Reacting to the incident, the management of the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH) later announced it was investigating the allegations and extended its deepest condolences to the Unachukwu family and acknowledged the grief expressed in the public account shared on social media.
Efforts to speak with the Hospital’s Public Relations Officer, Uchelue Boniface, over the recent incident, were unsuccessful as he did not take his calls as at the time of filing this report.
