A woman suspected to be a member of a child-stealing and trafficking syndicate has narrated how she allegedly sold her own set of twins and other people’s children, admitting she had been in the illegal business since October 2024.
Adejoke Popoola made the confession while being paraded by the Oyo State Police Command at its headquarters in Eleyele, Ibadan, alongside her alleged accomplices.
According to her, the twins were sold to a clinic in Ogere, Ogun State, for N300,000.
Popoola told reporters that she was blessed with easy conception, explaining that she would get pregnant anytime a man slept with her twice, and that aborting had always been difficult for her.
She said she had sold two sets of children, a newborn boy and a set of twins, last year, adding that the buyer resold the twins to customers in Lagos.
“Sometimes I get N80,000 or N120,000 for each child,” she said. “The clinic in Ogere gave me N300,000 for the twins.”
The suspect, a mother of seven whose children range from six to 34 years old, also admitted to stealing children, sometimes by posing as a prospective tenant.
“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 them,” she said.
She added that she sometimes disguised herself as a spiritualist, promising to heal disabled children whose parents brought them to her because they could not talk, sit or walk.
Recounting one of her alleged operations, Popoola said she stole a three-year-old boy, Ifakunle Ifagbenro, during an Egungun festival in Oyo Town.
She said she woke up early and asked a commercial motorcyclist to take her to the venue of the festival. On arrival, she met the family praying, joined them and 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’s hands and monitored him during the Egungun procession,” she said.
“I joined them for the procession and, in the evening, I picked up the boy, put him on my back and ran away with him.”
Popoola also claimed that about six of the 19 children she had kidnapped died, while 13 are still alive.
She said she also sold herbs at Ariyo Bus Stop, Olunloyo, before her arrest.
The police paraded her alongside other members of the suspected syndicate.
Discussion about this post