Ogun Police smash baby factory, rescue 7 children sold for N1.5M each
Stories by Olakunle Oke
Operatives of the Ogun State Police Command have dismantled a sophisticated child trafficking and illegal surrogacy syndicate operating under the guise of an orphanage in Badagry, arresting five suspects and rescuing seven children.
The operation, led by the Anti-Kidnapping Unit of the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), exposed a grim trade where babies were allegedly bred and sold for as much as ₦1.5 million each.
The breakthrough came after a distraught mother, identified simply as Amara, reported the abduction of her six-year-old son, Samuel Honesty, at the Idanyin Divisional Headquarters on November 28, 2025.
Following weeks of investigation, two suspects, Chioma Honest and Praise Honesty were arrested.
Police pressure yielded results on January 21, 2026, when the abducted boy was anonymously dropped off at Gowon Police Station in Lagos.
Upon debriefing, the six-year-old revealed he had been held at Joyful Kids Orphanage, a facility run by a woman known as Madam Joy.
Acting on the child’s testimony, detectives launched a raid on the facility, arresting the proprietor, Joy Chiedozie (36), and four others, including the orphanage driver, Yusuf Adebowale (31), who allegedly acted as an agent for illegal surrogacy deals.
During the raid, six more children aged between six and nine were rescued. They were identified as Ramsey Chiedozie (8), Rafael Rofiu (6), Kazeem Chiedozie (6), Segun Uthman (9), Ola Abdulhakeem Abdulrasheed (9), and David Oyelese (9).
Perhaps most shocking was the discovery of two 18-year-old pregnant women, Tanimola Martins and Favour Martins, at the facility.
During interrogation, both women confessed they had been recruited to carry pregnancies and sell the resulting babies for ₦1.5 million each.
The principal suspect, Madam Joy, reportedly confessed to buying the abducted Samuel Honesty for ₦1.5 million and reselling him to a buyer who remains at large.
The Ogun State Commissioner of Police, CP Lanre Ogunlowo, condemned the exploitation of vulnerable women and children, reiterating the command’s zero tolerance for human trafficking.
He confirmed that the rescued children have been handed over to the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development for protective custody and family tracing.