Oyo Police Rescue 17 Children, Arrest Seven Suspects Over Interstate Trafficking

The Oyo State Police Command has rescued 17 children and arrested seven subjects linked to an interstate child-stealing and trafficking network operating in Oyo, Ogun and Delta states.

The suspects were paraded before journalists by the Oyo State Commissioner of Police, Abimbola Olugbenga, during a press briefing at the command headquarters in Ibadan.

Olugbenga said the investigation started after the police received a petition dated July 29, 2026, from Adejoke Popoola, popularly known as Orente Alagbo.

According to him, the petition alleged conspiracy, cyberbullying, threat to life and defamation.

He said detectives later connected the case to the disappearance of three-year-old Ifakunle Ifagbenro, who went missing during a masquerade festival in Oyo town on June 29.

The commissioner said video and photographic evidence from the event showed Popoola carrying the child shortly before he disappeared.

He said Popoola was arrested on August 4 and reportedly admitted that she left the festival with the boy.

“Her statement provided the first major breakthrough into the wider criminal network,” Olugbenga said.

According to Olugbenga, her statement helped investigators uncover a larger child-trafficking operation.

The police said Popoola admitted taking part in the disappearance of more than 15 children between the ages of two and seven.

The commissioner said the children were allegedly taken from churches, parties and other public events in Oyo and other states.

Popoola reportedly named Adekanbi Janet, also known as Hosanna, as another member of the network.

Janet was subsequently arrested in Mowe, Ogun State.

Police said four children aged between two and four were rescued from the location, while two pregnant young women were also found there.

The commissioner said Janet told police that some of the children were kept until buyers were found.

He added that the pregnant women were allegedly held until they delivered their babies.

Olugbenga said the information obtained from Janet also helped the police locate Ifakunle, who was eventually rescued around the Gbagi area of Ibadan on August 20.

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.

Olugbenga said the arrests showed that the criminal operation extended beyond Oyo State.

He added that investigators also uncovered allegations linking the group to ritual activities.

According to him, the suspects told police that when a child died while in their custody, the body could be sold to people involved in ritual practices.

The commissioner said 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 police said the seven suspects arrested were identified as Popoola, Janet, Joy, Jesse, Fasasi, Azeez and Ismaila Alabede.

The police also disclosed that six children allegedly died while in the custody of the suspected abductors.

They were identified as Musharaf Lawal Tajudeen, 2; Greatness Adeagbo, 5; Sainat Amoo, 2; Taiwo Usman, 2; Daniel Solomon Olayinka, 7; and Miracle Olaniyi, 4.

The commissioner appealed to parents and guardians whose children have recently gone missing to visit the police command headquarters in Eleyele, Ibadan, to check whether any of the rescued children are theirs and help reunite them with their families.

Olugbenga said the police were working with relevant government and security agencies to uncover the full extent of the network, find other missing children and determine what happened to those reported to have died in the suspects’ custody.

ALSO READ: Police Rescue 30 Malians From Trafficking Syndicate In Nasarawa