A suspected member of a child trafficking syndicate, Adejoke Popoola, has confessed to selling two sets of children she gave birth to and stealing 19 others for sale.
Popoola, who spoke to journalists at the Oyo State Police Command headquarters in Ibadan, said she had been involved in the alleged activities since October 2024.
She claimed she sold a newborn boy and a set of twins, adding that the twins were sold to a clinic in Ogeere for N300,000.
“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 sold two sets of children, a newborn boy and twins, last year. I sold the twins to a 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 said she had seven children of her own, adding that some of them were married.
“I gave birth to seven children. Some are married. My last child is six years old, while the eldest is 34,” she said.
She also admitted stealing children, explaining that she sometimes disguised herself as someone seeking to rent a house before taking children when their parents were not around.
“I steal babies. I will go to their place and say I want to rent a house. Then, if I do not see anyone and I see their children, I will just steal their children,” she said.
Popoola said a woman she worked with at Ogeere Market taught her how to steal children.
She also claimed to have posed as a spiritualist and targeted parents whose children were 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.
According to Popoola, she combined the alleged activities with the sale of herbs at Ariyo Bus Stop, Olunloyo.
She further recounted how she allegedly stole a three-year-old boy, Ifakunle Ifagbenro, during an Egungun festival in Oyo Town.
Popoola claimed that six children had died out of the 19 she allegedly kidnapped, while 13 were still alive.
Earlier, the Oyo State Police Command said it had uncovered a suspected child-stealing and trafficking syndicate operating across states, rescuing 17 children and arresting seven suspects in connection with the investigation.
The Commissioner of Police, Abimbola Olugbenga, disclosed this during a press briefing at the command headquarters in Eleyele, Ibadan.
Olugbenga said the breakthrough followed an intelligence-led investigation that began with a petition but later exposed a wider criminal network allegedly involved in the stealing, movement, sale and concealment of children.
