Hazida Hama, Wife of Hama Amadou, the ex-speaker of Niger, leaves the court after hearing of baby trafficking charge against her and her husband in Naimey

Several senior political, military and business figures in Niger went on trial Friday on charges of taking part in the trafficking of babies from neighbouring Nigeria.

The most prominent defendant, opposition leader and former parliament speaker Hama Amadou, was absent from the proceedings, having fled the west African country in August after lawmakers lifted his immunity from prosecution.

Amadou’s wife Hadiza was, however, in the dock in the heavily-guarded Niamey courtroom, along with Agriculture Minister Abdou Labo and his wife and an army colonel and his spouse.

After the hearing, the judge adjourned the case until January 15 after citing issues with the quality of the evidence and case put forward by the prosecution.

The defendants are accused of taking illegal custody of around 30 babies, including twins, that were born to women in private Nigerian clinics that offer infants for sale.

Claiming to be the mother of a child born to another woman is a crime punishable by up to eight years imprisonment in Niger.

The network set up to supply newborns to Niger via Benin mainly served couples that cannot have children, a judicial source told AFP.

The affair first came to light in June 2014.

Hadiza Amadou and around 20 other defendants spent several months in detention before being released on bail.

Niger prosecutors issued a warrant for Amadou’s arrest in September after he went into self-imposed exile in France.

The prosecutor’s office said it had gathered evidence during “meticulous” investigations in Niger, Nigeria and Benin.

– Opposition decry ‘plot’ –

The defence argued there was no case to answer because there were neither victims nor plaintiffs to give evidence.

Amadou, who supported President Mahamadou Issoufou for election in 2011 but has since switched camp to the opposition, accused the authorities of a smear campaign in the run-up to the next presidential election in 2016.

“No evidence have been provided to substantiate these allegations of child trafficking,” he said recently, calling it a “plot”.

His party has accused the government of trying to “harass, isolate and take down” Issoufou’s rival.

The government, however, insists the affair is a purely criminal one.

“To close our eyes, now that would have been political,” Justice Minister Marou Amadou said in November.

Foreign Minister Mohamed Bazoum, who is also chairman of the ruling party, said that if the case contributed “to weakening” Amadou it was “tough luck for him.”