AN UNHOLY BUSINESS THAT HAS REFUSED TO DIE : Syndicate relocates Imo baby factory to Ondo ... NationalMirror

•Immigration arrests 24 suspects
Men of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) have uncovered a baby factory syndicate at Ilu Tuntun in Okitiupppa Local Government Area of Ondo State.
The baby-making factory, which is being run by a 45-year-old Happiness Ogundeji, was discovered by the anti-trafficking detectives after several months of surveillance and intelligence gathering.
No fewer than 24 suspects, including five pregnant girls, five nursing mothers and five babies, were arrested by the Immigration officers who invaded the factory in the early hour of yesterday. Among the suspects were eight men allegedly engaged to impregnate the girls.
Also discovered at the baby factory were eight luxury cars, food items and napkins, among others. A source, who did not want his name mentioned, said the owner of the baby factory always buy her freedom each time she was arrested by security agents.
The source said that the owner relocated the factory from Imo State to Ilu Tuntun in Ondo State when the Imo State Government began the clamp down on operators of illegal baby factories.
According to the source, some customers from Imo State often visit Ilu Tuntun to transact business. Parading the 24 suspects before journalists yesterday in Akure, the Ondo State capital, NIS Comptroller, Mr. Musa Al-Hassan, confirmed that the leader of the syndicate, Mrs. Happiness Ogundeji, had been arrested in Imo State for similar offence.
Al-Hassan said the suspects were arrested through the combine efforts of his men and military operatives after the suspects had earlier resisted arrest.
He claimed that the baby factory was being operated under the guise of traditional herbal home at a well-secured two flats apartment owned by Mrs. Ogundeji at Ilu Tuntun.
The Comptroller said young girls between the ages of 20 and 25 were recruited into the home where some men were engaged to impregnate them.
He said the Immigration Service headquarters in Abuja got a wind of the syndicate activities following a tip-off by the Cross River State Command of the Service and subsequently directed the Ondo State Command and its Imo State counter-parto go after the suspects. Subsequently, anti-human trafficking officials, led by Obisesan Abiola, moved into action and got necessary intelligence reports which revealed that Mrs. Ogundeji and a Cameroonian jointly operated the home.
Al-Hassan appreciated the synergy between his command and other security agents, saying the command would always collaborate with sister security agencies in ridding Ondo State of all forms of criminality.
One of the pregnant girls, who simply gave her name as Grace, claimed that she was a student of Lagos State University (LASU). Claiming that she was engaged to the son of the baby factory kingpin, Grace said her mother inlaw committed no crime.
Mrs. Ogundeji also claimed that she only operated a “herbal clinic” and that those arrested with her, including one Hausa man, were her relatives. But Al- Hassan said investigation had begun, adding that the suspects would be transferred to the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) headquarters in Lagos.