In this report, Ramatu investigates the allegations of trafficking and illegal abortion carried out on underage girls in Yan-Doya community of Jos in Plateau State Nigeria by a licensed medical practitioner who performs the surgery even when the pregnancy is at a stage where the life of the girl is at risk.

‘Yan doya market in Jos

Girl: Good afternoon, sir

Dr Ali: Good afternoon

Girl: My mum sent me to you, sir

Dr Ali: Your mum did what?

Girl: She sent me to you

Dr Ali: Ok

Girl: Well, is my younger sister that got pregnant.

Dr Ali: Ok

Girl: But she is at home now and my mum is ill so she asked me to come and tell you if I can bring her for the abortion.

Dr Ali: She wants to abort it. How old is the pregnancy?

Girl: Yes, it is six months old now

Dr Ali: OK, bring her with five thousand naira.

‘Yan-Doya is a small but busy market situated within the Jos metropolis where a variety of raw food items such as yam, cocoyam, potatoes, grains and vegetables are sold in open stalls. There are also shops built with blocks, corrugated zinc and cardboards where other items including groceries and medicines are sold. Behind the hustle and bustle of the market, lies a sinister secret hidden in plain sight, as what appears to be a regular drugstore is alleged to be an abortion clinic for underage girls who have been lured into prostitution. On entering the market, a white dusty and dilapidated pharmacy can be sighted right in the centre and hard to miss. This pharmacy belongs to a medical doctor popularly known as Dr. Ali Madida. Residents call the pharmacy “clinic” because they use it for all their medical needs. Sick people go to Dr. Ali’s clinic to be tested and receive medication for all their ailments.

Dr Ali Madida’s clinic at ‘yan doya market Jos

The market is also surrounded by residential areas often occupied by low-income families. Among them are the families of Khadija Yakub and her two friends Binta Lawan and Hauwa Isah (not real names). The three girls are all the same age of 14, of similar height and build but appear very emaciated and unkempt. They live with their parents but spend most of the day with friends and only return home in the evening. They do not go to school. They do not hawk any wares. Their only preoccupation was to roam the streets frequenting places like Yan-Doya, which rendered them preys to unscrupulous people.  Khadija said having nothing productive to do made her vulnerable and susceptible to predators like Dr. Ali, who she claims introduced her to prostitution in Yan-Doya market where she fell pregnant and suffered from serious complications afterwards when he aborted it for her. She also claimed that one of her friends wasn’t that lucky as she died after Dr Ali conducted an abortion on her.

“I have four friends who took me to Dr. Ali Madida and he introduced me to a man who told me that he loves me and asked me to follow him to his house, and as we went there, he took advantage of me,” she said fighting back tears. “After some months I noticed that I was pregnant, so I went back to Dr. Ali and he aborted the pregnancy for me. I suffered from stomach pain for months. I nearly died before I got myself back. A few months later, a friend of mine, Halima went to him to abort her pregnancy and in the process of the abortion, she got some complications and died,” Khadija explained in tears.

Khadija Yakub

According to a resident of the community, Malama Hauwa Ibrahim, a forty-year-old Fulani woman, the pharmacy had been in existence for more than twenty years run entirely by Dr. Ali.  “I used to go to his pharmacy every time I was pregnant to conduct pregnancy tests. My adult children always went there as kids, but we never suspected anything, until we heard the rumours,” she said.

Malama Hauwa, who sat on a stool in her brightly decorated living room said the rumours they heard were that he aborted pregnancies for under-aged girls who he often trafficked to both young and old men. This allegation was confirmed by another resident, a woman leader, Mrs. Naja’atu Hisham (not real name) who said that Dr. Ali Madida often got the under-aged girls through other female friends whom he had already groomed and aborted pregnancies for.

Binta Lawan (not real name), alleged victim and friend of Khadija

Naja’atu claimed that Dr. Ali often brainwashed the girls by telling them that prostitution was a lucrative and harmless way of making money because they would not be hurting anyone or engaging in criminal activities. He also promised them that in the event of any pregnancy he would take care of it in a painless process.  “At first, I didn’t believe it when I heard some of my neighbours talking about it until he did it to someone close to me, I don’t want to mention her name. At times when you are passing by the pharmacy, you will see blood flowing out of the gutter that comes out directly from the pharmacy. I also heard that he often slept with the girls who go to him for abortion. He is evil, I have never seen a doctor like him,” she said.

According to the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Nigeria is rated as one of the leading African countries in human trafficking with cross-border and internal trafficking which exploit vulnerable women and girls into illegal activities like prostitution. Dr. Ali’s activities of under-age prostitution are what UNESCO describes as the sexual services rendered by a girl-child of less than 18 years of age for any form of compensation, mainly financial in nature.  For Dr Ali Madida and Khadija, ‘Yan-doya market is the epicenter of underage sex trafficking and based on the provisions of the Nigerian law, sex trafficking is prohibited under the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act 2015. Section 13(1)(a) provides that anyone who recruits, transports or transfers another person for the purpose of prostitution or sexual exploitation commits an offense and could face imprisonment.  Underage prostitution is also illegal under the Child Rights Act 2003, which sets out a number of provisions protecting children from abuse and exploitation. Under section 26(g), it is an offense to use, procure, offer or facilitate a child for commercial sexual exploitation.  Abortion laws in Nigeria vary depending on the state, but it is generally only legal if performed to save the life of a woman. In many cases, women may seek unsafe abortions due to restrictive laws and lack of access to safe healthcare services.  Extortion can be prosecuted under various sections of Nigerian criminal law including those dealing with fraud and theft by deception.

Dr. Ali could be committing variety of these offences which include sex trafficking, under-age prostitution, abortion, and extortion among others.

Dr. Ali Madida is a light-skinned man of average height with a potbelly. He has no facial hair, and he could be anything between mid-forties to late fifties in age.

Sketched photograph of Dr. Ali

Locals of Yan-Doya said Dr. Ali’s pharmacy or clinic serves as the meeting point where he would often match his juvenile recruits with men including himself and arrange payment which he had already pegged at five thousand naira. The underaged girls go with the men, spend some hours together, get paid once the business of the day is done and they go back to their houses in the evening with no questions asked either by their patrons or their parents. If the underaged girl falls pregnant; she goes back to Dr Ali for an abortion at a cost of five thousand naira – the same amount, she made when he allegedly trafficked her – to perform the abortion irrespective of the age of the pregnancy.

I investigated further and found out from sources that want to be kept anonymous that there are indeed girls like Khadija below the ages of 15 who are into ‘forced sex trade’ in the city of Jos because of poverty, lack of parental care/parental irresponsibility and illiteracy among others.  I also found out that some of these young girls on the list of Dr. Ali Madida’s services are not necessarily recruited by him, but they rely on him for their connections. Some of the girls said they’re always standing by, “waiting for a call from the Doctor” to meet their potential sex-clients at the pharmacy in Yan-Doya Market. Another resident in the community confirmed this said Dr Ali Madida is well known in the community, and that what he does isn’t such a secret as he has been there for more that 20 years.

The side view of Dr Madida’s Clinic

The man with nine lives

While it may seem confounding that a medical doctor is undertaking such arbitrary acts without any repercussion, it hasn’t always been smooth sailing for Dr. Madida. He has had encounters with law enforcement agents and has been arrested on several occasions but too slippery to be locked up. Some of the girls spoke out but preferred to remain anonymous so as not to lose business deals from him.

Hadiza Isah (not real name) said “I know Dr. Madida and he is known to be a pregnancy terminator. Recently he aborted a seven-month-old pregnancy for a 14-year-old girl, Aisha, who lost her life within months of the abortion,” Hadiza told me that though Dr. Ali always managed to escape because he has money and knows his ways. “I don’t think he is even scared of being caught again. He is not the only doctor that does illegal abortions. There is another doctor in this same street that does that too.”

Zainab Kairi (not real name) told me that Dr Ali Madida is a womaniser and he aborts pregnancies for both young girls and older women. Zainab believes that he does work for some government officials too because she sees some big madams going to his pharmacy. “I can confirm that Dr. Ali aborts pregnancies, and he charges five thousand naira. I once accompanied my friend Amina to his pharmacy for abortion.”

Hajiya Nana, a mother to one of the victims has been unable to forgive herself since she found out what happened to her daughter. She blamed herself for her daughter’s predicament at the hands of Dr. Ali “It’s been two years now since Dr. Ali introduced my innocent beautiful 14-year-old daughter, Hajara (not real name) into prostitution. I didn’t know this until she had an abortion. I was really devastated when I found out, to the extent that I wanted to kill myself because I blamed myself for everything,” Hajiya Nana lamented.  She told me she has failed as a mother for not giving her daughter the attention she needed, especially when she needed her the most. “I wanted to report Dr. Ali to the authorities but because my husband is late, I was scared that my neighbours and the society would laugh at us if they heard the story and my daughter might not find a husband to marry in the future, so I decided to be silent, but it always hurt me anytime I remember,” Hajiya Nana confessed.

According to Aisha Bello (not her real name), Dr. Ali’s service fee has been five thousand Naira for a long time and that he has a lot of customers.  “I have known Dr. Ali for a very long time now and it is true he has a chemist and attends to patients too, but it is not a rumour that he aborts pregnancy for young girls and women. Someone very close to me told me how he slept with her before aborting her pregnancy. He does it for married women without the consent of their husbands and does it for young girls below 15 too. His service fee is five thousand naira.  Imagine what that money will amount to. ”

Having compiled all these allegations, I wrote a letter to Dr Madida and highlighting some of my findings and asking him to comment. His office acknowledged receipt of my letter but is yet to respond. I went back to his clinic to try and see if there was anything new, but to my surprise, the old, dilapidated building which housed his clinic was being renovated. The battered place I’d seen only a few months ago with broken windows, was now coated with new plastering, new doors, and windows as well as a brand-new roof projecting out of the building.

Dr Madida’s ‘clinic’ getting a facelift

Holding Dr. Ali Madida accountable

Dr. Sabo Ahmed, a Professor of Human Anatomy at the University of Jos confirmed that underage abortion is illegal. “Everybody knows abortion for under-age girls is illegal except if it is for treatment reasons (therapeutic abortion). Complaints are launched to the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN), a government regulatory body for medical practice against a doctor suspected of such crime. The doctor is tried and when found guilty, he/she gets stripped of his/her license and then prosecuted by the police without enjoying any support or protection from the MDCN and Nigeria Medical Association (NMC). Part of the Rules of Professional Conduct for Medical & Dental Practitioners, in ‘Part G’ of the Conviction for Criminal Offences for Abortion reads “Illegal abortion is ethically prohibited for medical personnel if found, he will be investigated by their professional body in some cases especially if a complaint is written in that regard.  A conviction for criminal abortion affords grounds for disciplinary action by the Medical and Dental Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal. A doctor who improperly procured or attempts to procure an abortion or a miscarriage is liable to be charged with infamous conduct in a professional respect.”

The Plateau State Government, where Dr. Ali Madida operates has banned the operation of brothels and has enforced it. All brothels were closed, and the government went ahead to put tight measures on prostitution of all forms a few years ago. This law is still effective, and anyone caught could face severe consequences such as jail.  So, I asked myself why Dr. Ali is still in this business of operation.

Chairperson of The International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) Plateau state Branch, Obioma Ngozi Achilefu said, “Generally, prostitution in Nigeria is illegal in all Northern states that practice Islamic penal code. In Southern Nigeria, the activities of pimps or madams, underage prostitution and the operation or ownership of brothels are penalised under sections 223,224 and 225 of the Nigerian Criminal Code. Achilefu said that procuring underage girls for prostitution or defiling them is a crime, but the act of prostitution is not. Section 250 of the Criminal Code penalises those who control, direct, or influence the movements of a prostitute.  Section 223 of the Criminal Code Act deals with procurement of women or girls. Sub-section 2 of the said section expressly mentioned “prostitute”. The section is punishable with two years’ imprisonment, the act of procuring a woman or a girl to become a common prostitute.

The Hospital Services Management Board (HSMB) is responsible for the management of all public hospitals as it relates to healthcare services in the Plateau state. I kept wondering if Dr Madida’s clinic is protected or excluded from these extra services he provides. I reached out to a staff of the HSMB who pleaded anonymity. Without confirming or denying the boards knowledge of Dr Madida’s operations, my source said “Hospital Services Management Boards are only concerned with the administration of health services in various states of the federation. Their mandate does not include regulatory functions. though HSMB can liaise with law enforcement agencies to arrest and persecute unqualified and unlicensed (quack) persons in medical practice,” in a message I received on WhatsApp.

On reading this, I reached out to the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria to request for information about him, according to the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2011. In a letter dated 10^th of January 2024, signed by the Assistant Registrar/Head Registration Department the council claimed no knowledge of Dr. Ali Madida. “…I wish to inform you that the names Dr. Ali Madida does not exist on the council’s registry,” the letter read in part.

Researchers in Nigeria have narrowed down the causes of under-age prostitution largely to economic, sociological, and socioeconomic factors. They regard factors such as family background, poverty, drug use and societal status as the culprits in providing an entry way for young girls and women into prostitution (Bamgbose, 2002).  However, by Nigerian law as well as the code of ethics guiding medical practitioners, it is unethical for a certified medical doctor to engage in an illegal act especially the one that has to do with introducing young girls below the age of 15 into prostitution and aborting their pregnancies like Dr. Ali. The medical code of ethics which every physician took an oath to abide by clearly reads in part, ‘I WILL MAINTAIN the utmost respect for human life from the time of conception; Even under threat I WILL NOT USE my medical knowledge contrary to the laws of humanity.’

Underage Sex for Money

Dr. Ali Madida has no doubt built a thriving business for himself although he uses it to traffick girls and fulfill his own personal needs and desires.  Some members of the community also patronise his services which indicates that there is a market for what he is offering.  Abortion in Nigeria is illegal and carries a heavy jail sentence up to 14 years’ imprisonment unless it is performed to save the life of the pregnant woman. Abortion is governed by the Criminal Code in the southern states and Penal Code in the northern states. The abortion laws of the Criminal Code are expressed within sections 228,229, and 230. Section 228 states that “Any person who, with intent to procure miscarriage of a woman, whether she is or is not with child, unlawfully administers to her or causes her to take any poison or other noxious thing, or uses any force of any kind, or uses any other means whatever, is guilty of a felony and is liable to imprisonment for fourteen years”. Section 230 of the Criminal Code says “Any person who unlawfully supplies to or procures for any person anything whatever, knowing that it is intended to be unlawfully used to procure the miscarriage of a woman, whether she is or is not with child is guilty of a felony and is liable to imprisonment for three years”. The Penal Code operates in northern states, with abortion laws contained in sections 232, 233 and 234. The sections of the Penal Code parallel the Criminal Code, besides the exception for abortion with the purpose of saving the life of the mother. The Penalty Code’s punishments include imprisonment.

Undercover recording

To obtain more evidence and ensure that all allegations in this report were true, I persuaded one of the underaged girls to secretly record her conversation with Dr. Ali. Amina (not a real name) is 14 years old and a friend to one of the prime victims booked an appointment with Dr. Ali Madida for an abortion.  I guided Amina on how to go about this secret recording without being found out. Below is an excerpt of what transpired during the recording:

Girl: Good afternoon, sir.

Dr Ali: Good afternoon.

Girl: My mum sent me to you, sir.

Dr Ali: Your mum did what?                                               

Girl: She sent me to you.

Dr Ali: Ok

Girl: Well, is my younger sister that got pregnant.

Dr Ali: Ok

Girl: But she is at home now and my mum is ill so she asked me to come and tell you if I can bring her for the abortion.

Dr Ali: She wants to abort it. How old is the pregnancy?

Girl: Yes, it is six months old now.

Dr Ali: OK, bring her with five thousand naira.

Girl: OK, with five thousand naira, is there any discount, doctor?

Dr Ali: OK, remove five hundred Naira from the money.

Girl: OK, When and what time should I bring her for the abortion?

Dr Ali: I am here now, go and bring her now.

Girl: Ok

Dr Ali: Hope where you are staying is not far?

Girl: No, our house is close by, just down there.

Dr Ali: OK, go and bring her now.

Girl: OK, Thank you.

Malama Laraba Lawan (not real name), the woman leader of Yan-Doya community advised the Governor of Plateau State, Caleb Guchin to put the illegal acts of doctors like Ali to an end and ensure drastic measures that will stop under-age prostitution and abortion in Jos. Lawan also called on the government to provide free education so that poor parents can take their children to school, especially the female children. ” The major problem of this whole issue is that most of these girls do not go to school, they lack parental care and because they are poor, they are easily convinced,” she said. Lawan emphasized that although the lack of care on the part of the parents may look like they are accomplices, they are also very ignorant.

Resolution

Under-age abortion, sex trafficking and extortion are all prohibited by the Nigerian law, but Dr. Ali is heard in the secret recording committing this crime and he is confirmed carrying out abortion on underage girls in his old-small secret clinic, putting the lives of the girls in danger.  The safety of young girls should be a priority for the government of Plateau state. The government of Plateau state should take serious measures to curb sex-trafficking, illegal abortions and extortions of underage girls; support indigent families to get their children into schools and ensure that medical doctors like Dr. Madida are brought to books to face the rule of law.

To the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) which is the professional association of doctors with its primary function of regulating the practice of medicine should intervene by saving lives of underaged girls from the hands of Dr. Ali Madida by striking Dr. Ali off his membership of NMA. His license should be withdrawn immediately and he should not be allowed to practice again. This will deter other medical doctors from committing illegal activities.

Ramatu is a 24-year-old freelance female journalist from Kano with a passion for amplifying the voices of Northern Women & Girls. This report was done with support from Women Radio Centre and the MacArthur Foundation.