The Ondo State Security Network Agency, popularly known as the Amotekun Corps, has successfully dismantled a child trafficking and organ harvesting syndicate, rescuing a kidnapped boy,
Eriponmile, in a high-stakes operation that stretched beyond state borders.
The victim, who was abducted in the Davog area of Ijoka, Akure, was recovered within 48 hours by Amotekun operatives in a mission hailed as swift, strategic, and life-saving.
“We received a distress call from Ijoka Davog that Eriponmile had been kidnapped and taken away,” said the State Commander of Amotekun, Akogun Adetunji Adeleye, during a press briefing.
“Our intelligence showed he had already been taken out of Ondo State. We deployed plainclothes operatives, cast a wide dragnet, and by the grace of God, we successfully rescued him and reunited him with his parents.”
Commander Adeleye revealed that the breakthrough came after the boy was tracked to a hospital in the eastern part of Nigeria, where he had already been tested and declared “medically fit to be harvested” by a suspected trafficking kingpin, identified as Amaka.
The suspects arrested in connection with the heinous trade include: Amaka, Ifeanyi, Adaeze, Etose, Omolara, and two other individuals who are currently being tracked by security forces.
In the course of interrogation, disturbing confessions were made by several of the suspects, shedding light on a deeply rooted and horrifying child trafficking network.
One of the suspects, Adaeze Kenneth, 20, daughter of the alleged ring leader, said:
“My mum told me to accompany her to deliver a baby someone didn’t want, but I refused. Later, I learned the baby was taken to Anambra State. After that, I distanced myself from them.”
In a chilling confession, Amaka Kenneth, 35, stated: “After my husband died, I began taking babies to a motherless bbabyhome in Onitsha. We sold each child for ₦500,000. I operated alongside Tosin and Mr. Adewale Olokungboye.”
Another woman involved in the syndicate disclosed that she sold her one-year-old child after tests revealed he could not be used for harvesting due to his genotype.
“They said the baby was AS, so he was rejected. But I sold him for ₦500,000,” she confessed.
Commander Adeleye vowed that the agency would completely dismantle the syndicate believed to be responsible for numerous similar abductions across the country.
The father of the rescued boy, Eriseun Omolewo, a native of Iju in Akure North Local Government Area, expressed profound gratitude to the state government and Amotekun Corps for the safe return of his son.
“We had been searching since Tuesday. The government and Amotekun really helped us. I am grateful to Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa for supporting the efforts that brought my son back,” he said emotionally.
The Ondo State Amotekun Corps has once again demonstrated its resolve in protecting the lives and futures of residents, particularly children, in the face of rising threats of human trafficking and organ trade.
