Baby Factory Uncovered In Ondo State

About 24 persons have been arrested at a Baby factory uncovered in Ilu-Titun, a town in Okitipupa Local Government Area of Ondo State by the Officers of the Nigeria Immigration Service in the state.

Those nabbed by the anti-trafficking detectives of the command included five pregnant women, five nursing mothers, five babies, and eight men, suspected to have impregnated the women.

According to the Ondo State Comptroller of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), Mr Musa Al- Hassan, the anti-human trafficking unit of the command after a tip-off from the headquarters in Abuja went into investigation and discovered the baby factory after one week of thorough intelligence gathering.

The house, well secured with a tall fence and strong gate, houses young girls between the ages of 19 and 25 cared for in the home and being impregnated by some young men.

One of the suspects and owner of the baby factory, Mrs Happiness Ogundeji, 45, resisted arrest before the Immigration Officers got assistance from the officers and men of the Nigeria Police Division in the town.

Speaking in Yoruba language, Mrs Ogundeji told reporters that the security operatives did not tell her the offence she committed.

She denied ever operating a baby factory, claiming that she was a traditional medicine practitioner.

After delivery, the girls are offered some meagre amount of money while their babies are taken from them and sold in millions to rich couples who are in need of them.

One of the pregnant girls arrested at the baby factory and taken to the NIS office in Akure could only identify herself as Chika.

All the suspects have been transferred to the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons’ headquarters in Lagos State for further investigations.

A similar home was uncovered last year in Imo State in eastern Nigeria, where at least 16 pregnant girls were taken into custody by the Nigeria Police Force.