A suspected member of a child-stealing and trafficking syndicate in Oyo State, Adejoke Popoola, has confessed to selling two sets of children she gave birth to and abducting 19 other children for onward sale.
Popoola, who spoke with journalists at the Oyo State Police Command headquarters in Ibadan on Monday, said she ventured into the alleged criminal activity in October 2024.
She disclosed that she sold a newborn boy and a set of twins, revealing that the twins were reportedly sold to a clinic in Ogeere for N300,000.
According to her, she received between N80,000 and N120,000 whenever she sold a child, adding that she became involved in the trade after pregnancies she considered difficult to terminate.
“I have sold two sets of children, a newborn boy and twins. I sold the twins to a clinic, which resells them to customers in Lagos,” she said.
The suspect, who claimed to have seven children of her own, said she had also developed different methods of stealing children, including pretending to be searching for accommodation before taking advantage of parents’ absence.
“I steal babies. I will go to their place and say I want to rent a house. If I don’t see anyone and I see their children, I will just steal them,” she confessed.
Popoola further claimed that a woman she met while working at Ogeere Market taught her how to abduct children. She also said she sometimes posed as a spiritualist to gain access to children living with disabilities.
She recounted how she allegedly abducted three-year-old Ifakunle Ifagbenro during an Egungun festival in Oyo town, saying she volunteered to carry the boy during the procession before fleeing with him.
Popoola claimed that six of the 19 children she allegedly stole had died, while the remaining 13 were alive.
The confession followed the arrest of Popoola by the police during an investigation into the disappearance of Ifakunle, who went missing during the masquerade festival on June 29, 2026.
The Commissioner of Police, Abimbola Olugbenga, said the investigation began after a petition but later exposed a wider interstate network allegedly involved in stealing, transporting, selling and concealing children.
Olugbenga said Popoola’s arrest on August 4 led detectives to another suspect, Adekanbi Janet, also known as Hosanna, who was traced to Mowe, Ogun State.
According to the CP, police rescued four children and two pregnant women from Janet’s custody, while information obtained from her allegedly helped detectives locate and rescue Ifakunle in the Gbagi area of Ibadan on August 20.
The police boss added that detectives later travelled to Agbor, Delta State, where four children allegedly stolen from Oyo were rescued from suspected buyers. Two suspects, Christopher Joy, 48, and Rosemary Jesse, 53, were arrested.
Olugbenga said the investigation also uncovered allegations that some children who died in the suspects’ custody were allegedly sold to suspected ritualists, leading to the arrest of Muritala Fasasi, an Alfa, and Yakubu Azeez, a herbalist.
The CP said 17 children had so far been rescued, while six others were confirmed dead.
He urged parents and guardians whose children had gone missing recently to visit the command headquarters in Eleyele, Ibadan, to identify the rescued children and facilitate their reunification with their families.
0 Comments