A suspected member of a child-stealing and trafficking syndicate, Adejoke Popoola, has confessed to allegedly selling children she gave birth to and stealing other children for onward sale.
Popoola made the revelation while speaking to journalists at the Oyo State Police Command headquarters in Ibadan on Monday.
She claimed to have been involved in child trafficking since October 2024, alleging that she sold a newborn boy and a set of twins.
According to her, the twins were sold to a clinic in Ogeere for N300,000, while she sometimes received between N80,000 and N120,000 for individual children.
“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,” she said.
Popoola claimed that she had 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 also admitted to allegedly stealing children, explaining that she sometimes disguised herself as a prospective tenant to gain access to homes.
“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 alleged that a woman she worked with at Ogeere Market taught her how to steal children.
She further claimed that she sometimes posed as a spiritualist and targeted parents whose children were living with disabilities.
According to her, she would promise such parents that she could help their children before allegedly taking another child and presenting the child to them.
Popoola also recounted how she allegedly abducted a three-year-old boy, identified as Ifakunle Ifagbenro, during an Egungun festival in Oyo Town.
She said she travelled to the location early in the morning and joined prayers at the house where the festival participants gathered.
According to her, she later volunteered to assist in looking after the boy during the procession before allegedly fleeing with him.
“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 she had kidnapped 19 children, alleging that six of them later died while 13 remained alive.
“About six children died from the 19 children I have kidnapped, but 13 are alive,” she said.
The Oyo State Commissioner of Police, Abimbola Olugbenga, disclosed the arrest during a press briefing at the command headquarters in Eleyele, Ibadan, on Monday.
Olugbenga said the breakthrough followed an intelligence-led investigation that began with a petition but subsequently exposed a wider criminal network allegedly involved in the stealing, movement, sale and concealment of children.
The police commissioner said the investigation had also uncovered allegations of other criminal activities, including claims that deceased children were being used for ritual purposes.
The police said investigations were ongoing to establish the full extent of the alleged network and identify other individuals who may have been involved.
