Operatives of the Ondo State Security Network Agency, otherwise known as the Amotekun Corps, have busted a five-gang organ harvesting and child trafficking inter-network syndicate.

The syndicate, mostly women, were smashed after they reportedly sold some children from the state to another gang in Anambra State.

The arrested suspects were identified as Amaka, Ifeanyi, Adaeze, Etose, and Omolara, while two others were said to be at large but currently being tracked. 

It was gathered that nemesis caught up with the gang after they allegedly abducted a toddler, simply identified as Eriponmile at the DAVOG area of Ijoka, in the Akure South Local Government Area of the state. 

Parading the suspects on Tuesday in Akure, Commander of the Amotekun Corps in the state, Adetunji Adeleye, said the infant was tracked to a hospital in one of the Southeast states.

Adeleye stated that the local security outfit had to deploy its plainclothes operatives to the state where the syndicate was rounded up and arrested during their illegal business trade of organ harvesting. 

“Our team tracked the boy to a hospital in the eastern part of the country, where he had already been tested and declared medically fit to be harvested by one Amaka, suspected to be a major player in the gruesome trade.

“Along the line, we arrested the culprits; the suspected kidnappers and we were able to discover that this is a business they have been involved in for a long time. Many children have been kidnapped and used for ritual purposes and organ harvesting,” he said. 

Adeleye commended the Welfare Department of the Amotekun Corps for taking a special interest in the boy’s case and ensuring his safe return to good health.

He, however, advised parents to remain vigilant and always monitor the activities of their children, revealing that the boy’s prompt rescue was made possible because of his parents’ quick alarm to the Amotekun Corps. 

While expressing appreciation to the Amotekun Corps for their swift response in rescuing his child, the father, EriseunOmolewo, said his boy had been declared missing last week. 

Mr Omolewa, from Iju in Akure North Local Government Area of the state, explained that he and his wife had been worried about the whereabouts of their son, stressing that the family are now happy he’s back in their midst. 

“I also thank the men of the Ondo State Security Network Agency, Amotekun,” he said. 

In an interrogation with journalists, one of the suspects, Adaeze Kenneth (20) claimed she was brought into the crime business by her mother, who is the ringleader of the syndicate.  

Another suspect, Amaka Kenneth (35), said she “Takes babies to a motherless home in Onitsha to sell for ₦500,000 per child.”