Women Now Fake Pregnancies With Steroids to Deceive Husbands – Ex-NAPTIP DG

• Former NAPTIP Director-General Julie Okah-Donli has alleged that some women use steroids to fake pregnancies before obtaining babies to deceive their husbands, linking the practice to alleged baby trafficking syndicates.

Former Director-General of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Julie Okah-Donli, has alleged that some women in Nigeria fake pregnancies and obtain babies through illegal means to convince their husbands they have given birth.

Okah-Donli made the claims during a resurfaced interview on the Kaa Truths Podcast, where she discussed alleged fake pregnancy syndicates and baby trafficking networks operating in the country.

According to her, some women are allegedly injected with steroids that cause physical changes, making them appear heavily pregnant despite not carrying a child.

She claimed the steroids cause facial swelling and enlarged stomachs, giving the appearance of pregnancy.

Okah-Donli further alleged that the women often imitate common pregnancy symptoms, including morning sickness, vomiting and excessive spitting, particularly when their husbands are present.

She also claimed that when it is time for the supposed delivery, some women arrange for their husbands to be away from home or send them on errands before presenting them with a baby upon their return.

The former NAPTIP boss further alleged that some women even undergo fake surgical procedures to create scars resembling those from a caesarean section in an effort to make the deception more convincing.

According to her, some cases of disputed paternity may actually involve baby trafficking rather than infidelity, arguing that maternity tests should also be conducted alongside paternity tests to determine whether a woman is the biological mother of a child.

She alleged that such investigations could help uncover cases where babies were illegally obtained.

Okah-Donli also claimed that some women falsely report giving birth to twins, triplets or quadruplets, alleging that multiple births make it easier to conceal the source of the children.

The former NAPTIP Director-General served as head of the anti-human trafficking agency after her appointment by former President Muhammadu Buhari in 2017.

However, her remarks were not accompanied by publicly presented evidence, and the allegations remain her personal claims.