The Oyo State Police Command says it has rescued 17 children and arrested seven suspects allegedly linked to an interstate child-stealing and trafficking syndicate operating across Oyo, Ogun and Delta states.
The Commissioner of Police in Oyo, Abimbola Olugbenga, disclosed this while parading the suspects during a press briefing at the command headquarters in Ibadan, the state capital.
Olugbenga said the investigation followed a petition dated July 29, 2026, filed by Adejoke Popoola, also known as Orente Alagbo, over allegations including conspiracy, cyberbullying, threat to life and defamation.
He said detectives subsequently connected the investigation to the disappearance of three-year-old Ifakunle Ifagbenro, who reportedly went missing during a masquerade festival in Oyo town on June 29.
According to the commissioner, photographs and video footage from the event showed Popoola carrying the child shortly before his disappearance.
The police 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 the commissioner, Popoola told investigators that she had participated in the alleged stealing of more than 15 children between the ages of two and seven from churches, parties and other events within and outside Oyo State.
She also reportedly identified Adekanbi Janet, also known as Hosanna, as an alleged accomplice.
Olugbenga 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 until buyers were found, while the pregnant women were allegedly held until they gave birth.
The commissioner said information from Janet also helped detectives locate Ifakunle, who was rescued around the Gbagi area of Ibadan on August 20.
He added that the investigation was 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 allegedly died in custody
Olugbenga said the investigation confirmed the “interstate dimension” of the alleged criminal network and also uncovered a suspected ritual element in its operations.
According to him, the suspects disclosed that children who died while in their custody could allegedly be sold to ritualists. This led 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.
The commissioner identified the seven suspects arrested as Popoola, Janet, Joy, Jesse, Fasasi, Azeez and Ismaila Alabede.
He also disclosed that six children — Musharaf Lawal Tajudeen, 2; Greatness Adeagbo, 5; Sainat Amoo, 2; Taiwo Usman, 2; Daniel Solomon Olayinka, 7; and Miracle Olaniyi, 4 — reportedly died while in the custody of their alleged abductors.
The police commissioner urged parents and guardians who have recently lost children to visit the command headquarters in Eleyele, Ibadan, to identify the rescued children and assist in reuniting them with their families.
Olugbenga said the command was collaborating with other security and government agencies to uncover the full structure of the alleged network, trace other missing children and determine the circumstances surrounding the reported deaths.