BY SUNDAY SAMUEL—The Ogun State Police Command has dismantled a suspected child trafficking and illegal surrogacy ring operating under the cover of an orphanage, following a successful operation by the Anti-Kidnapping Unit of the State Criminal Investigation Department.
The State Commissioner of Police, CP Lanre Ogunlowo, confirmed the incident on Thursday in a statement posted via the force official X Account on an operation carried out by the Anti-Kidnapping Unit of the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID).
“In the course of the operation, seven children were rescued and five principal suspects were arrested, exposing a planned sale of babies at the rate of N1.5m per child,” he disclosed.
“ The case began on 28 November 2025 when a woman identified as Amara reported the abduction of her six-year-old son, Samuel Honesty, at Idanyin Divisional Headquarters.”
Preliminary investigations, led to the arrest and prosecution of one Chioma Honest and Praise Honesty for suspected foul play, after which the matter was transferred to the SCID for in-depth investigation.
A major breakthrough occurred on January 21, 2026, when the missing child was dropped off at Gowon Police Station in Lagos State. Acting on the intelligence, police operatives carried out a coordinated raid on an orphanage, where six additional children were rescued, bringing the total number of recovered minors to seven.
“The rescued children include Ramsey Chiedozie (8 years), Rafael Rofiu (6 years), Kazeem Chiedozie (6 years), Segun Uthman (9 years), Ola Abdulhakeem Abdulrasheed (9 years), David Oyelese (9 years), and Samuel Honesty (6 years).
“We wish to emphasize that Samuel Honesty has been safely and happily reunited with his mother, Amara, bringing closure to a traumatic experience and restoring the family unit,” the CP noted.
He further noted that two pregnant young women, Tanimola Martins (18 years) and Favour Martins (18 years), were discovered within the facility during the police raid.
“They confessed that they were recruited to carry pregnancies with the intention of selling their babies to pre-arranged buyers upon delivery, at a fee of ₦1.5 million per child, facilitated by the orphanage operator.
