A Baby factory operated by one Mr and Mrs Abiodun Ogundeji has
been uncovered in Ilu-Titun in Okitipupa council area of Ondo State by the
state command of the Nigeria Immigration Service, NIS.
At least 24 suspects were arrested in connection with the
illegal establishment. Among those nabbed by the anti-trafficking detectives of
the command include five pregnant women, five nursing mothers, five babies, two
of which are less than a month old and eight men whose duty it was to
impregnate the women.
The arrest of the proprietor of the baby factory, Mrs
Happiness Ogundeji, was after several months of intelligence gathering and
discreet surveillance by officials of the command. According to reports, the
proprietor, Mrs Ogundeji had to relocate to Ondo State after she was arrested
in Imo State for a similar offence.
Upon her arrest,she was said to have pretended that the baby
factory was a natural healing home.
It was gathered that young girls between the ages of 19 and
25 were recruited into the home where some young men purposely work to
impregnate them. Once a girl is pregnant, she is separated from those yet to be
impregnated. After delivery, the girls are offered ridiculous amount, their
babies taken from them and sold to rich men and women who pay millions of
naira, depending on the sex of the baby. Twins are said to be the costliest as
they go for N2.5 million.
It was further discovered that the proprietor is assisted in
the factory by a Cameroonian.
The suspects were paraded before newsmen at the command’s
headquarters in Akure, yesterday, by the state’s comptroller of NIS, Mr Musa
Al-Hassan. Al-Hassan told newsmen that following a tip-off, the suspects were
rounded up at their hideout by a combined team of his officers and military
operatives. According to him, the suspects had earlier resisted arrest
following which they reinforced to effect the arrest.
Meanwhile, all the suspects are to be transferred to the
National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, NAPTIP, headquarters in Lagos after preliminary
investigation by the officials of the command.
The house used for the illegal business had been sealed off
by security operatives.
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