A suspected member of a child-stealing and trafficking syndicate, Adejoke Popoola, has confessed to selling two sets of children she gave birth to and allegedly kidnapping 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, claiming 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.
“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 biological children, added that some of them were 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 admitted to stealing children, explaining that she sometimes pretended to be looking for accommodation before taking children when she found 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 claimed that a woman she worked with at Ogeere Market introduced her to the alleged practice of stealing children.
She further said she sometimes disguised herself as a spiritualist to gain access to families with 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.
She said she combined the alleged activities with the sale of herbs at Ariyo Bus Stop, Olunloyo.
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Popoola also narrated how she allegedly took a three-year-old boy, 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 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 Oyo State Police Command had earlier announced that it uncovered a suspected interstate child-stealing and trafficking network, rescuing 17 children and arresting seven suspects.
The Commissioner of Police, Abimbola Olugbenga, disclosed the development during a press briefing at the command headquarters in Eleyele, Ibadan, on Monday.
Olugbenga said the investigation began after the command received a petition but later uncovered a broader network allegedly involved in stealing, transporting, selling and concealing children.
He added that detectives also discovered allegations involving the use of deceased children for ritual purposes.
According to the CP, the initial petition was submitted on July 29, 2026, by Popoola, also known as Orente Alagbo, from the Sogade area of Ariyo, Ibadan.
Investigators 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 offered to carry the boy during the event before allegedly leaving the venue with him.
Photographs and videos from the festival reportedly showed Popoola carrying the child, while further investigation allegedly established that she was with him around the time he disappeared.
The police said Popoola was arrested on August 4 and allegedly admitted attending the festival and leaving with the boy.
Olugbenga said her statement became a major breakthrough in the investigation, as she allegedly revealed her involvement in the disappearance of more than 15 children aged between two and seven from churches, parties and other event venues within and outside Oyo State.
The CP said Popoola also identified Adekanbi Janet, popularly known as Hosanna, as an alleged accomplice.
Janet was subsequently traced to Mowe in Ogun State, where police said four children aged between two and four and two pregnant young women were rescued from her custody.
According to Olugbenga, Janet allegedly revealed that some stolen children were kept until buyers were found, while pregnant women were allegedly housed until they gave birth.
Information provided by Janet reportedly helped detectives locate and rescue Ifakunle around the Gbagi area of Ibadan on August 20.
The police investigation later extended to Agbor in Delta State, where detectives travelled 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.
Olugbenga said the arrests demonstrated that the suspected trafficking operation extended beyond Oyo State.
He further disclosed that investigators uncovered an alleged ritual dimension to the network, with suspects reportedly stating that children who died while in their custody were sold to suspected ritualists.
This allegedly led to the arrest of Muritala Fasasi, an Alfa, and Yakubu Azeez, a herbalist.
The police commissioner said 17 children had so far been rescued, while six others reportedly died while 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 appealed to parents and guardians whose children had gone missing recently to visit the command headquarters in Eleyele, Ibadan, to check whether any of the rescued children belong to them and facilitate their reunification.