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 other children for onward sale.
Popoola made the disclosure while speaking with journalists at the Oyo State Police Command headquarters in Ibadan on Monday. She said she had been involved in the alleged activities since October 2024.
According to her, she sold a newborn boy and a set of twins, with the twins reportedly sold to a clinic in Ogeere for N300,000.
“God blessed me with the gift of pregnancy. Anytime a man has sex with me twice, I get pregnant, and it is always difficult to abort.
“I have sold two sets of children, a newborn boy and twins as well, last year. I sold the twins to … clinic; she also resells them to her customers in Lagos. She has a baby industry. When the owner of the pregnancy rejects the pregnancy, that is when I sell. Sometimes I get N80,000 or N120,000 for each child I sell.
“The clinic in Ogeere gave me N300,000 for the twins,” she said.
Popoola also disclosed that she has seven children of her own, some of whom are married.
“I gave birth to seven children. Some are married. My last child is six years old, while the eldest is 34 years old,” she said.
She further admitted to stealing children, explaining that she sometimes disguised herself as someone looking to rent a house before taking children when their parents were absent.
“I steal babies. I will go to their place and say I want to rent a house. Then, if I do not see anyone, if I see their children, I will just steal their children,” she said.
Popoola said a woman she previously worked with at Ogeere Market introduced her to the practice of stealing children.
She also claimed to have posed as a spiritualist and targeted parents whose children were living with disabilities.
“Sometimes, I disguise myself as a spiritualist. Parents bring their disabled children to me because they cannot talk, sit, or walk. So, I will promise them that I can help them to heal, then I will go and pick another person’s child for them,” she said.
According to Popoola, she continued the alleged activities while selling herbs at Ariyo Bus Stop, Olunloyo.
She also recounted how she allegedly abducted three-year-old Ifakunle Ifagbenro during an Egungun festival in Oyo Town.
“I went to an Egungun festival to steal a child, Ifakunle. I woke up early and asked a bike man to drive me to the place where they were holding the Egungun festival, so he drove me to the house.
“When I entered the house, they were praying, so I joined them and I even gave them money for the prayer.
“When the Egungun left, the boy told his mother that he did not want to stay at home and wanted to join the procession. So, I volunteered to help hold the boy.
“I joined them for the procession and, in the evening, I picked up the boy, laid him on my back and ran away with him,” she said.
Popoola claimed that six children died among the 19 children she allegedly kidnapped.
“About six children died from the 19 children I have kidnapped, but 13 are alive,” she said.
PUNCH Online had earlier reported that the Oyo State Police Command uncovered a suspected child-stealing and trafficking syndicate operating across several states, leading to the rescue of 17 children and the arrest of seven suspects.
The Commissioner of Police, Abimbola Olugbenga, disclosed this during a press briefing at the command headquarters in Eleyele, Ibadan, on Monday.
Olugbenga said the breakthrough resulted from an intelligence-led investigation that started with a petition before exposing a broader criminal network allegedly involved in stealing, transporting, selling and concealing children.
He added that the investigation had also uncovered allegations of other criminal activities, including the reported use of deceased children for ritual purposes.
The CP said the investigation began after a petition dated July 29, 2026, was submitted by Popoola, also known as Orente Alagbo, from the Sogade area of Ariyo, Ibadan.
According to him, detectives were subsequently led to the disappearance of Ifakunle, who reportedly went missing during an annual masquerade festival in Oyo Town on June 29.
Olugbenga said Popoola had volunteered to carry the child during the event and later left the venue with him.
He said photographs and videos from the festival showed Popoola carrying the child, while further investigations established that she was with him around the time he disappeared.
The police commissioner said Popoola was arrested on August 4 and allegedly admitted attending the masquerade festival and leaving with the missing child.
According to him, her statement became a major breakthrough in the investigation, as she allegedly revealed her involvement in the theft of more than 15 children aged between two and seven from churches, parties and other events within and outside Oyo State.
Olugbenga said Popoola also identified Adekanbi Janet, also known as Hosanna, as her alleged accomplice.
Janet was later traced to Mowe, Ogun State, where police allegedly rescued four children aged between two and four, as well as two pregnant young women, from her custody.
The CP said Janet allegedly revealed that some of the stolen children were kept in custody until they were sold, while the pregnant women were cared for until they gave birth.
He added that information provided by Janet helped detectives locate and rescue Ifakunle around the Gbagi area of Ibadan on August 20.
Olugbenga further disclosed that detectives travelled to Agbor, Delta State, on September 2, where four children allegedly stolen from Oyo State were rescued from people suspected of having bought them.
Two suspects, identified as Christopher Joy, 48, and Rosemary Jesse, 53, were arrested during the operation.
The CP said the development confirmed the interstate dimension of the suspected trafficking network, while further investigations revealed an alleged ritual dimension to the activities.
According to him, suspects allegedly disclosed that when a child died while in their custody, the body was sold to suspected ritualists. This led to the arrest of Muritala Fasasi, an Alfa, and Yakubu Azeez, a herbalist.
The police boss said the command had so far rescued 17 children, while six others reportedly died in the custody of their alleged abductors.
The deceased children were identified as Musharaf Lawal Tajudeen, two; Greatness Adeagbo, five; Sainat Amoo, two; Taiwo Usman, two; Daniel Solomon Olayinka, seven; and Miracle Olaniyi, four.
Olugbenga urged parents and guardians whose children have gone missing in recent times to visit the command headquarters in Eleyele, Ibadan, to identify the rescued children and facilitate their reunification with their families.