Police rescue 17 children from interstate child-trafficking syndicate, say six died in custody
The Oyo state police command says its operatives have
rescued 17 children and arrested seven suspects linked to an inter-state
child-stealing and trafficking syndicate operating across Oyo, Ogun and Delta
states.
Abimbola Olugbenga, commissioner of police in Oyo, paraded
the suspects during a press briefing at the command headquarters in Ibadan, the
state capital.
Olugbenga said the investigation began after a petition
dated July 29, 2026, was submitted by Adejoke Popoola, also known as Orente
Alagbo, over allegations of conspiracy, cyberbullying, threat to life and
defamation.
He said detectives later linked the investigation to the
disappearance of three-year-old Ifakunle Ifagbenro, who went missing during a
masquerade festival in Oyo town on June 29.
According to the commissioner, pictorial and video evidence
from the event showed Popoola carrying the child shortly before he disappeared.
The police chief said Popoola was arrested on August 4 and
admitted leaving the festival with the child.
“Her statement provided the first major breakthrough into
the wider criminal network,” Olugbenga said.
According to him, Popoola said she had been involved in the
stealing of more than 15 children, aged between two and seven, from churches,
parties and other event venues within and outside Oyo state.
She also identified Adekanbi Janet, also known as Hosanna,
as her alleged partner.
The commissioner said Janet was arrested in Mowe, Ogun
state, where four children, aged between two and four, were rescued, alongside
two pregnant young women.
According to him, Janet told detectives that some of the
stolen children were kept in custody pending their sale, while the pregnant
women were kept until they gave birth.
He said her statement also provided information that helped
detectives locate Ifakunle, who was rescued around Gbagi area of Ibadan on
August 20.
The police commissioner said the investigation later
extended to Agbor in Delta state, “where four children stolen from Oyo state
were rescued from their buyers”.
“Two suspects, identified as Christopher Joy, 48, and
Rosemary Jesse, 53, were arrested in connection with the operation,” Olugbenga
said.
‘SIX CHILDREN KILLED’
He said the development confirmed the “interstate dimension”
of the criminal network, adding that the investigation also uncovered an
alleged ritual dimension to the operation of the group.
He said the suspects disclosed that when a child died in
their custody, the body could be sold to ritualists, leading to the arrest of
Muritala Fasasi, an islamic cleric, and Yakubu Azeez, a herbalist.
“Both have confessed their involvement in using them for
ritual purposes,” he said.
Olugbenga listed the seven suspects arrested as Popoola,
Janet, Joy, Jesse, Fasasi, Azeez and Ismaila Alabede.
The commissioner also said six children — Musharaf Lawal
Tajudeen, 2; Greatness Adeagbo, 5; Sainat Amoo, 2; Taiwo Usman, 2; Daniel
Solomon Olayinka, 7; and Miracle Olaniyi, 4 — died while in the custody of
their abductors.
He urged parents and guardians who have lost children
recently to visit the command headquarters in Eleyele, Ibadan, to identify the
rescued children and facilitate their reunification with their families.
Olugbenga said the command was working with other security
and government agencies to uncover the full structure of the network, locate
other missing children and establish the circumstances surrounding the reported
deaths.
4 hours ago
