Four nurses were arrested yesterday over the births of the so-called miracle babies.
And two of the surviving 11 babies – whose pictures were published in the Daily Nation yesterday – were recognised by readers who believe they could be their own missing children.
One of the babies was reported to have disappeared a year ago from Kayole Estate in Nairobi, while another was believed to be the long-lost son of a man from Meru. He said the boy vanished in 1999, only a few months after his birth.
Both readers were going to the police to determine if the children were actually theirs.
The nurses now under arrest worked at the two clinics where it is claimed all the babies were born – mostly between 1999 and 2004 – to a woman, now aged 56, who says she conceived without men.
The babies came, she claims, after she was prayed over by Kenyan evangelist Gilbert Deya who “cast out demons” from her body.
Also under arrest was the woman herself, Mrs Eddah Odera, and her husband Michael, who have been caring for the 11 surviving babies at their house in Nairobi.
The two clinics’ nurses were held for working without valid nursing certificates or other medical documentation.
“We want to get more information from them on the whole issue before taking further action,” police said.
They were still looking for the man believed to own the clinics, Dr Danson Njoroge. “We believe he can help shed some light on the whole issue,” said police.
They were asked to seize him by the doctors’ governing body, the Medical Practitioners and Dentists Board, who have accused him of operating the Mama Lucy medical clinics and maternity homes in Nairobi’s Huruma and Ngomongo slums illegally, without valid registration certificates.
“Apart from running the clinics illegally, if the doctor is found to have engaged in any unethical practices, then he will face the board’s disciplinary committee,” commented the Director of Medical Services, Dr James Nyikal.
He went on: “I have already written to the CID director to assist the board in tracing the whereabouts of Dr Njoroge”.
Dr Njoroge also operates a private clinic near the Kenya Bus Service station in downtown Nairobi.
The office is in one of the oldest buildings around the station and also houses other businesses ranging from a fish fryer to a hair dressing saloon.
When the Nation visited the building yesterday the room which bears the doctor’s name was locked and some of the other occupants said Dr Njoroge had been away for some time.
Meanwhile, it appeared that details of birth certificates of four of the Oderas’ “miracle babies” placed on Pastor Gilbert Deya’s website tallied with those at Sheria House, Nairobi, which houses records of registered births and deaths.