Operatives of the Ondo State Police Command have arrested a couple, Lukman Isiaka, 43; Abosede Olanipekun, 23, for stealing children and selling them to one Sabira Izuorah, 62.
The police also recovered 14 children stolen from Akure, the state capital, and Ilesa, Osun State.
The babies and toddlers were recovered from the ‘orphanage’ of Izuorah in Ihiala, Anambra State, where they were for N1m each.
Among the stolen babies were three weeks old, two weeks old, and two months old, among others.
Many of the rescued children struggled to recognise their parents as their names had been changed and they now spoke Igbo language.
While being paraded at the police headquarters in Akure, Izuorah, who claimed to have retired as a Director from the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs, Anambra State, admitted to having received the children from the couple.
“I have a registered orphanage. I take care of children. The name of my orphanage is Clarion Children’s Care and Reforms Initiatives, and it started full operation in 2020,” she said.
“Lukman and his wife brought a total of 11 children to me. I don’t pay them; it is the adoptive parents who pay them. The adoptive parents don’t pay me; they give us food items and supplies.
“I stopped Lukman and his wife from bringing children for me in November 2024. All the children were no longer with me, but I went to recover them from their adoptive parents. It didn’t start with me, and it will not end with me.”
While confessing to being involved in the crime since 2023, Lukman, a bricklayer, stated that Izuorah introduced him and his wife to the illicit trade when he left Ondo State to work in Anambra.
According to him, Izuorah always paid him N500,000 per child, which she in turn sold to her prospective buyers for N1 million and above.
“I have been stealing children since 2023. I have given a total of 11 children to Izuorah. The method my wife and I use to steal the children is when we are going, and we see any child roaming about, we call them and say we will buy soft drinks and biscuits for them,” he said.
“After telling them that, they will follow us. After walking for about 10 minutes, we will board a bike to the park, where we will board a vehicle to Anambra State to give Izuorah the children.
“She normally gives us N500,000 for each child that we bring to her. I met Izuorah when we went to Anambra to work. I’m a bricklayer. She was the one who introduced me to the business after training me, and since then, I have been giving her children.
“I don’t know anything about the two-month-old and four-month-old babies. She is the one who can say where she got them from. I only operate in Akure, Ondo State, and Ilesa, Osun State.”
The Commissioner of Police in the State, Wilfred Afolabi, who hailed the spirited effort of the police operatives in rescuing the victims, stated that intelligence-led policing made the operation a success when Lukman and Abosede were traced to Ottah village in Edo State, where they were arrested.
Afolabi added that the arrested couple led the police operatives to Anambra State, where Izuorah was arrested and moved to Akure.
“A case of a missing child was reported at Okuta Elerin-Nla Division in Akure. A complainant reported that Abosede deceived her by claiming she wanted to buy biscuits for the baby.
“Meanwhile, Lukman distracted the complainant by engaging her in a personal conversation and requested that she follow him to Olukayode Plaza in the market to get a mobile phone. On getting to the market area, he abandoned her and left. When the complainant returned to the shop, she discovered that her child was missing, with no trace of Abosede, the supposed sister of the man she followed to the market; thus, a report was made at the Division.
“During interrogation, the suspects admitted to abducting the child and other children from Ondo and Osun States and selling them to Sabira Izuorah, aged 62 years, in Ihiala, Anambra State, at the rate of One Million Naira (N1,000,000) per child.”
The police commissioner, however, stated that some children are currently on the missing list while efforts are ongoing to locate and rescue them.
He added that the suspects will be charged to court upon completion of the investigation.
