The Oyo State Police Command has uncovered an alleged child-trafficking network accused of stealing children for sale and, in cases where some victims died in captivity, allegedly supplying their bodies to ritualists.
The command said six children had been confirmed dead while in the custody of the suspected syndicate, as detectives rescued 17 other children and arrested seven suspects during an intelligence-led investigation.
Oyo State Commissioner of Police, CP Abimbola Olugbenga, disclosed the development on Monday at a press briefing at the Police State Headquarters, Eleyele, Ibadan.
According to the commissioner, the investigation exposed an operation that allegedly extended beyond Oyo State, with stolen children transported across state borders and placed in the custody of suspected buyers.
The police said the six deceased victims were Musharaf Lawal Tajudeen, two; Greatness Adeagbo, five; Sainat Amoo, two; Taiwo Usman, two; Daniel Solomon Olayinka, seven; and Miracle Olaniyi, four.
The alleged ritual component of the operation emerged after one of the suspects reportedly told investigators that children who died in captivity were sold to ritualists.
The disclosure led to the arrest of Muritala Fasasi, an Alfa, and Yakubu Azeez, a herbalist, whom police said confessed to alleged involvement in using the bodies for ritual purposes.
How investigation uncovered syndicate
Olugbenga said the breakthrough followed an investigation that initially had no direct connection to a large-scale child trafficking operation.
He said detectives began examining a petition dated July 29, 2026, submitted by Adejoke Popoola, also known as Orente Alagbo, of Sogade Area, Ariyo, Ibadan.
The petition contained allegations of conspiracy, cyberbullying, threat to life and defamation of character and was assigned to the Anti-Kidnapping Squad on August 3.
While investigating the circumstances surrounding the petition, detectives were drawn to the disappearance of three-year-old Ifakunle Ifagbenro during an annual masquerade festival in Oyo Town on June 29.
Ifakunle had accompanied his father to his father-in-law’s family compound for the festival, while Popoola had arrived two days earlier to participate in preparations.
The commissioner said Popoola offered to carry the child during the event before both disappeared.
The disappearance was subsequently reported at the Atiba Police Divisional Headquarters, Oyo Town.
Police investigators reviewed photographs and videos from the festival and allegedly found images showing Popoola carrying the missing child.
Digital trails and statements from people connected to the event also reportedly established that she was with Ifakunle around the time he disappeared.
Popoola was arrested on August 4 and allegedly admitted attending the festival and leaving with the boy.
Suspect allegedly admits stealing more than 15 children
According to Olugbenga, Popoola’s statement became the first major breakthrough in the investigation and allegedly revealed the wider operation.
The suspect reportedly told detectives she had participated in the stealing of more than 15 children, aged between two and seven years, from churches, parties and other event venues within and outside Oyo State.
She allegedly identified Adekanbi Janet, also known as Hosanna, as her associate.
Police traced Adekanbi to Mowe, Ogun State, where four children aged between two and four years were rescued.
Two pregnant young women were also recovered from the location.
The commissioner said Adekanbi admitted knowing Popoola for about 10 years in connection with the alleged stealing and sale of children, although she denied having custody of Ifakunle.
She reportedly told investigators that some stolen children were kept in custody while awaiting buyers, while the pregnant women were allegedly cared for until they gave birth.
Information obtained from Adekanbi subsequently helped detectives locate Ifakunle, who was rescued around the Gbagi area of Ibadan on August 20.
Children allegedly sold for up to N600,000
The police said a principal suspect, identified by the nickname Orente, also gave investigators details of how the alleged operation was conducted.
In her reported testimony, she said she had stolen 13 children before her arrest and had been involved in the alleged business since October 2024.
She allegedly told investigators that she would visit homes and, when she found nobody around, take a child.
The suspect reportedly said the children were sold for between N500,000 and N600,000.
She also allegedly described targeting traditional and spiritual gatherings, including masquerade festivals, where she could gain the confidence of parents before taking children.
In one method she reportedly described, she would approach parents of children with disabilities and claim she could help heal them before taking the children away.
Police uncover interstate dimension
The investigation subsequently moved beyond Oyo State.
Olugbenga said detectives travelled to Agbor, Delta State, on September 2, where four children allegedly stolen from Oyo State were rescued from suspected buyers.
Two alleged buyers, identified as 48-year-old Christopher Joy and 53-year-old Rosemary Jesse, were arrested and reportedly confessed to involvement in the business.
The arrests, according to the police, established that the alleged syndicate was not operating solely within Oyo State and that children were being moved across state borders as part of the operation.
Police release list of rescued children
The 17 children rescued by the command are Ifakunle Ifagbenro, three; Musibau Olasupo, five; Sulaimon Osamo, seven; Murina Fidaus, three; Aminat Yusuf, three; Taiwo Olamilekan, three; a nine-day-old male infant; Rafiat Waheed Babalola, two; Quwiyat Alade, five; Rejoice Divine, three; Alhaji Divine, five; Eniolorunda, three; Victoria, three; Isoma Prince, three; Roqeeba, four; Boluwatife Odedeyi, three; and Ireoluwa Elizabeth Olapade, seven.
The commissioner appealed to parents and guardians whose children have gone missing in recent times to visit the Police Command Headquarters, Eleyele, Ibadan, to identify the rescued children and facilitate their reunification with their families.
He said the command was working with other security and government agencies to uncover the full structure of the alleged network, locate additional missing children and establish the circumstances surrounding the six reported deaths.
Olugbenga urged parents and guardians to report missing children to the police without delay.
He also warned against entrusting children to individuals who present themselves as traditional or spiritual healers, particularly when they seek to separate children from their families or take them to undisclosed locations.
The commissioner appealed to members of the public with credible information that could assist the investigation to contact the police, assuring that such information would be treated professionally and, where necessary, confidentially.
He reaffirmed the command’s commitment to protecting children and other vulnerable persons, dismantling criminal networks and bringing anyone found culpable to justice in accordance with the law.
