A Nigerian woman living in West Yorkshire is at the center of a major child trafficking investigation after she returned to the UK last summer with a newborn baby—despite never being pregnant. The woman, known by the pseudonym Susan, was arrested at Gatwick Airport in June 2024 after arriving from Nigeria with an infant girl, “Eleanor.” Prior to her trip, she had told her UK doctor she was pregnant, but medical scans revealed no signs of pregnancy and instead detected a potentially cancerous tumor. Susan declined treatment and left for Nigeria, telling her employer she intended to give birth there.
She returned a month later with Eleanor and informed a local hospital she had delivered the baby abroad. However, suspicions led to her arrest on suspicion of child trafficking. Eleanor was placed in foster care, and DNA tests later confirmed that neither Susan nor her husband were genetically related to the child. Susan initially demanded the baby be returned, insisting she was the mother. When the DNA results disproved her claim, she alleged the baby was conceived via IVF using donor eggs and sperm. She submitted documents from Nigerian clinics as evidence—but an expert social worker, Henrietta Coker, found the documents to be forged after visiting the facilities in Nigeria.
Coker’s investigation uncovered alarming details: the so-called birth facility was a run-down flat staffed by teenagers in nurses’ uniforms. A doctor linked to the supposed birth could not confirm Susan’s identity and suggested the child may have been purchased, referencing the widespread issue of “baby factories” in Nigeria—illegal operations where girls are raped or coerced into giving birth, and the infants sold. Court-ordered phone examinations revealed messages from Susan to a contact labeled “Mum oft Lagos Baby,” strengthening suspicions.
Despite extensive inquiries, Eleanor’s true origins remain unknown. The case, now in the Family Court in Leeds, has spotlighted the growing concern around cross-border baby trafficking and the exploitation of vulnerable women in Nigeria. Experts warn this could be part of a wider, underreported trend involving the illegal movement of babies to the UK.
