Oyo trafficking suspect admits selling babies, stealing 19 children
By Adejayan Gbenga
A suspected member of a child-stealing and trafficking syndicate, Adejoke Popoola, has allegedly confessed to selling two sets of children she gave birth to and stealing 19 other children for onward sale.
Popoola made the disclosure while speaking with journalists at the Oyo State Police Command headquarters in Ibadan on Monday, saying she had been involved in the alleged activities since October 2024. She claimed she sold a newborn boy and a set of twins, with the twins allegedly sold to a clinic in Ogeere for N300,000.
According to her, she sometimes received between N80,000 and N120,000 for each child sold. Popoola, who said she had seven children of her own, also admitted allegedly stealing children by posing as a woman seeking accommodation and taking them when their parents were away.
She further alleged that she sometimes disguised herself as a spiritualist and targeted parents of children living with disabilities, promising to help heal them before taking another child. She also recounted how she allegedly stole three-year-old Ifakunle Ifagbenro during an Egungun festival in Oyo town.
Popoola claimed she carried the boy away after offering to assist his mother during the procession. She also alleged that six of the 19 children she stole had died, while 13 remained alive.
Meanwhile, the Oyo State Commissioner of Police, Abimbola Olugbenga, said the command had uncovered a suspected child-stealing and trafficking syndicate operating across several states. He said the investigation had led to the arrest of seven suspects and the rescue of 17 children.
Olugbenga said the investigation began with a petition dated July 29, 2026, and was expanded following inquiries into Ifakunle’s disappearance during a masquerade festival in Oyo town on June 29. He said Popoola was arrested on August 4 and allegedly provided information that led detectives to Adekanbi Janet, also known as Hosanna, who was traced to Mowe, Ogun State, where four children aged between 2 and 4 and two pregnant young women were reportedly rescued.
The commissioner added that further information led to the rescue of Ifakunle in the Gbagi area of Ibadan on Aug. 20, while four other children allegedly stolen from Oyo State were rescued in Agbor, Delta State, on Sept. 2. He said the investigation had also uncovered an alleged ritual dimension, with suspects reportedly telling detectives that some children who died in their custody were sold to suspected ritualists, leading to the arrest of Muritala Fasasi, an Alfa, and Yakubu Azeez, a herbalist. Olugbenga therefore urged parents and guardians who recently lost children to visit the command headquarters in Eleyele, Ibadan, to identify the rescued children and facilitate their reunification with their families.
