A suspected member of a child-stealing and trafficking syndicate in Oyo State, Adejoke Popoola, has admitted selling two sets of children she gave birth to and stealing 19 other children for onward sale.
Popoola made the disclosure while speaking with journalists at the Oyo State Police Command headquarters in Ibadan on Monday, following her arrest in connection with an investigation into a suspected interstate child-trafficking network.
She said she had been involved in the alleged activities since October 2024, claiming that she sold a newborn boy and a set of twins.
‘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, who said she had seven children of her own, explained that her children ranged in age from six to 34, with some already 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 also confessed to stealing children by gaining access to homes under the pretence of looking for accommodation.
‘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.
According to her, a woman she worked with at Ogeere Market introduced her to the method of stealing children.
Popoola further said she sometimes presented herself as a spiritualist to gain access to children 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.
The suspect also recounted how she allegedly abducted a three-year-old boy, Ifakunle Ifagbenro, during an Egungun festival in Oyo Town.
She said she travelled to the festival after hiring a commercial motorcyclist and joined the family during prayers before offering to assist with the child.
‘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 of the 19 children she allegedly kidnapped had died.
‘About six children died from the 19 children I have kidnapped, but 13 are alive,’ she said.
The Police Commissioner in Oyo State, Abimbola Olugbenga, said the investigation had so far led to the rescue of 17 children and the arrest of seven suspects.
Olugbenga made the disclosure at a press briefing at the command headquarters in Eleyele, Ibadan, on Monday, saying what began with a petition eventually exposed a wider network involved in the alleged stealing, transportation, sale and concealment of children across state boundaries.
The petition, dated July 29, 2026, was submitted by Popoola, also known as Orente Alagbo, of the Sogade area of Ariyo, Ibadan.
According to the police commissioner, detectives subsequently connected the investigation to the disappearance of Ifakunle, who went missing during the annual masquerade festival in Oyo Town on June 29.
Olugbenga said Popoola had offered to carry the boy during the procession before leaving the venue with him.
He added that photographs and video footage from the event showed Popoola carrying the child, while further investigation placed her with the boy around the period he disappeared.
The commissioner said Popoola was arrested on August 4 and allegedly admitted attending the festival and leaving with Ifakunle.
Her statement, he said, became a major lead in the investigation, with the suspect allegedly disclosing her involvement in the theft of more than 15 children aged between two and seven from churches, parties and other gatherings in Oyo State and beyond.
Popoola allegedly identified Adekanbi Janet, also known as Hosanna, as an accomplice.
Police subsequently traced Janet to Mowe in Ogun State, where four children aged between two and four and two pregnant young women were allegedly rescued from her custody.
Olugbenga said Janet allegedly told investigators that stolen children were sometimes kept until buyers were found, while the pregnant women were kept in custody until they delivered their babies.
Information obtained from Janet, according to the police, also helped investigators locate and rescue Ifakunle around the Gbagi area of Ibadan on August 20.
The investigation later extended beyond the South-West when police detectives travelled to Agbor, Delta State, on September 2 and rescued four children allegedly stolen from Oyo State.
Two suspects, Christopher Joy, 48, and Rosemary Jesse, 53, were arrested during the operation, according to the commissioner.
Olugbenga said the operation established the interstate nature of the suspected trafficking network and also uncovered allegations involving the use of deceased children for ritual purposes.
He said suspects allegedly told investigators that children who died while in their custody were sold to suspected ritualists.
This led to the arrest of Muritala Fasasi, an Alfa, and Yakubu Azeez, a herbalist, the commissioner said.
The police said the six children who reportedly died in the custody of their alleged abductors were Musharaf Lawal Tajudeen, two; Greatness Adeagbo, five; Sainat Amoo, two; Taiwo Usman, two; Daniel Solomon Olayinka, seven; and Miracle Olaniyi, four.