Authorities in Imo State have arrested Chukwudinma Umunnakwe and Comfort Umunnakwe on suspicion of operating a baby factory under the guise of an orphanage.

The couple, who manage Comfort Orphanage Home in Owerri, were publicly presented at the Imo State Police Command headquarters on Sunday.

The arrest, facilitated by a timely intelligence report, was announced by Henry Okoye, spokesperson for the Imo State police command, on Tuesday, July 2.

According to Okoye, the suspects have confessed to running the illegal operation for over 12 years.

They are set to be formally charged in court once the investigation concludes.

Onye disclosed “The suspects have confessed to being in the criminal activity for over 12 years and will be arraigned in court upon completion of the investigation.

“The suspects coerced their victims into signing a document to give away their children upon delivery for either N400,000 or N500,000 depending on the gender of the child.”

A Federal High Court has sentenced Freeman Charles Ogbonna to 25 years in prison following his arrest by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos.

Ogbonna, who was bound for Delhi, India, via Doha on Qatar Airways, was apprehended after he began vomiting and excreting 80 wraps of cocaine during screening at Terminal 2 of MMIA.

Initially using a Liberian passport under the name Carr Bismark, Ogbonna was identified through a positive body scan indicating drug ingestion.

Subsequent investigation revealed his true identity and he was placed under NDLEA custody.

Spokesperson Femi Babafemi disclosed in a statement on Tuesday that Ogbonna’s discomfort led to the expulsion of the illicit drugs ingested.

He said “Obviously choked by the volume of illicit drugs in his stomach and another substance taken to hold back excretion, the suspect soon began to retch before starting to vomit and excrete wraps of cocaine he ingested almost simultaneously.

“The suspect who claimed he was recruited into drug trafficking by one of his relatives, eventually passed out a total of 80 wraps of cocaine weighing 889 grams through his mouth and anus over a period of four days.

“The great risk that almost took his life notwithstanding, Ogbonna said he was given the drugs to swallow at a hotel in Ipodo area of Ikeja with a promise to reward him with N300,000 cash if he successfully delivers the consignment in India.

“He was subsequently arraigned before Justice Dipeolu Deinde Isaac of the Federal High Court, Lagos in charge number FHCL/378/2024 for committing an offence contrary to Section 20(1)(b) and punishable under Section 20(2)(a) of the NDLEA Act Cap N30 LFN 2004.”

In his ruling on Monday, July 1, 2024, Justice Dipeolu sentenced Freeman Charles Ogbonna to 25 years in prison without the option of a fine.

This decision came after Ogbonna was arrested by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for attempting to traffic cocaine through Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos.

Chairman and Chief Executive of NDLEA, Brig.-Gen. Mohamed Marwa (rtd), praised the MMIA Command and the prosecution team for their swift and thorough handling of the case.

He emphasized the judiciary’s crucial role in the concerted efforts to combat substance abuse and illicit drug trafficking in Nigeria.

Marwa underscored that Ogbonna’s conviction serves as a stern warning to others involved in drug trafficking, highlighting that there will be no refuge for drug barons and their associates.

The sixth prosecution witness, PW6, Idi Musa, in the trial of Ismaila Mustapha, (a.k.a Mompha) an investigator with the EFCC, on Monday, July 1, 2024, told Justice Mojisola Dada of the Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos how the sum of N35bn was found in two bank accounts linked to the defendant.

The Lagos Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, had, on January 12, 2022, arraigned Mompha alongside his company, Ismalob Global Investment Limited, on an eight-count charge bordering on conspiracy to launder funds obtained through unlawful activity, retention of proceeds of criminal conduct, laundering of funds obtained through unlawful activity, failure to disclose assets and property, possession of documents containing false pretences and use of property derived from unlawful act.

One of the counts reads, “Ismaila Mustapha, Ahmadu Mohammed (at large) and Ismalob Global Investment Limited, sometime in 2016, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, conspired amongst yourselves to conduct financial transactions to the tune of N5,998,884,653.18 ( Five Billion Nine Hundred and Ninety-eight Million,  Eight Hundred and Eighty-four Thousand, Six Hundred and Fifty-three Naira Eighteen Kobo), with the intent of promoting the carrying on of specified unlawful activities to wit: obtaining by false pretence.”

He pleaded “not guilty” to the charges when they were read to him.

On September 22, 2022, Justice Dada had ordered that the trial of Mompha would continue in absentia after he jumped bail.

At Monday’s proceedings, Musa, while being led in evidence by the prosecution counsel, S. I. Suleiman, narrated how he knew the first and second defendants in the course of investigations into the alleged criminal activities.

He told the court how the Commission had received intelligence from the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), informing it that the first and second defendants were into cybercrime in the United States of America, USA.

He said, “Sometime in 2019, we received intelligence from the FBI, USA. The letter was addressed to the Commission, informing us that the first and second defendants were involved in cybercrime, otherwise known as Yahoo Yahoo.”

According to him, in the course of the investigation, some letters were written to two major banks requesting the account statements of the second defendant linked to the first defendant.

In his further testimony, he told the court that “The account statements were received and analysed.

“During the analysis, we discovered a heavy flow of N30bn through the account of the first defendant (Mompha) in one of the banks and about N5bn in another bank account.

“Letters were written to the FBI, and the Special Fraud Unit of the Commission, regarding the defendant’s claim that he was into Bureau De change business, in view of the volume of these transactions.

“A letter was also written to the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN and other relevant agencies”.

He also told the court that the investigation revealed that the first defendant did not reside in Nigeria and that efforts to reach him proved abortive.

The PW 6 said, “A letter was written to the Nigeria Immigration Services, NIS, on October 16, 2019, to arrest the defendant anytime he was seen in the country.

“On October 18, 2019, the first defendant got information that the Commission was looking for him, while he was in Nigeria. So, he quickly got to the airport and boarded a flight in order to jet out of the country to evade arrest.

“The team got the information through the NIS officers at the airport. By then, Mompha had already boarded the flight. So, they had to call him to come down and he was immediately arrested. He was subsequently handed over to the EFCC by the immigration officers”.

When asked about the findings regarding the defendant’s bank account, Musa said over N30bn was discovered, adding that “ he told us that he was into Bureau De Change business. But investigation showed that he was not.

“We have already concluded investigations in that regard. The offences border on money laundering, operating BDC without a licence before a Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos.”

He also told the court that a report from the FBI’s forensic analysis revealed that Mompha’s iPhone was used to send account details to a United Arab Emirates telephone number, which he used to search for Swift Codes of a bank.

“Upon his arrest, all the properties recovered from him were registered with the Exhibits Section in the EFCC office.

“Most of the properties were released to him on bond, except his iPhone 8 which is still with the Commission.

“The items are proceeds of crime because when he was given the Assets Declaration Form, he did not include those items,” he added.

The prosecution then tendered both the first defendant’s statement as well as the Asset Declaration Form.

They were admitted in evidence as exhibits P5 and P6 by the court.

Consequently, Justice Dada adjourned the case till Tuesday, October 8, 2024, for the continuation of trial.