BY NKECHI NAECHE-ESEZOBOR—
The Oyo State Police Command has cracked a child-stealing and human trafficking syndicate operating across multiple states, rescuing 17 children and arresting seven suspects in an intelligence-led investigation.
Briefing journalists at the Police State Headquarters, Eleyele, Ibadan, on Monday, the Commissioner of Police, CP Abimbola Ayodeji Olugbenga, said what began as a probe into an unrelated petition eventually exposed a wider criminal network involved in identifying, moving, selling and concealing children.
According to the CP, the investigation started after a petition dated July 29, 2026, was filed by one Adejoke Popoola, also known as Orente Alagbo, of the Sogade area, Ariyo, Ibadan, raising allegations of conspiracy, cyberbullying, threat to life and defamation of character.
The petition was assigned to the Anti-Kidnapping Squad on August 3, 2026. While reviewing the case, detectives noticed a link to the disappearance of a three-year-old boy, Ifakunle Ifagbenro, who had gone missing on June 29, 2026, during a masquerade festival at his father-in-law’s family compound in Oyo Town.
The police said Popoola had arrived two days before the festival to help with preparations and later offered to carry the child, after which both she and the boy vanished from the venue. The case was reported at the Atiba Police Divisional Headquarters in Oyo Town.
Investigators said photographs and video footage from the event showed Popoola carrying the child on the day he disappeared. Following up on leads from people identified in the footage, detectives arrested Popoola on August 4, 2026, at about 2:30 p.m. She reportedly admitted attending the festival and leaving with the missing child.
Her confession, police said, opened up the wider network. Popoola allegedly told detectives she had stolen more than 15 children, aged between two and seven, from churches, parties and other event venues within and outside Oyo State. She named an alleged accomplice, Adekanbi Janet, also known as Hosanna.
Janet was traced and arrested in Mowe, Ogun State, where four children aged two to four were rescued alongside two pregnant young women in her custody. Police said Janet admitted knowing Popoola for about ten years and being aware of her involvement in child stealing and trafficking, though she denied holding custody of Ifakunle.
She reportedly disclosed that stolen children were kept pending sale, while pregnant women in the syndicate’s custody were cared for until they gave birth. Her information also led detectives to Ifakunle’s whereabouts, and the boy was rescued on August 20, 2026, in the Gbagi area of Ibadan.
On September 2, 2026, detectives travelled to Agbor, Delta State, where four more children stolen from Oyo State were recovered from their buyers. Two suspects, Christopher Joy, 48, and Rosemary Jesse, 53, were arrested and confessed to their roles in the trafficking operation.
