Shocking Child Trafficking Ring Uncovered: Ondo Police Rescue 14 Stolen Babies, Arrest Key Suspects
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The Ondo State Police Command has successfully dismantled a child trafficking ring, arresting three suspects involved in the illicit operation that trafficked children from Ondo and Osun States to Anambra.
The arrested individuals are Lukman Isiaka, 43, his wife Abosede Olanipekun, 23, and Sabira Izuorah, 68. Together, they were found in possession of 14 babies and toddlers who had been trafficked to Anambra since 2023.
The children were recovered from Izuorah’s so-called ‘orphanage’ in Ihiala, Anambra State, where they were being kept after being trafficked by Lukman and Abosede, a married couple. Among the babies recovered were infants as young as two weeks old.
While being paraded at the police headquarters in Akure, Izuorah, a former Director from the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs in Anambra State, admitted to having received the children from the couple. She explained, “Lukman and his wife brought me 11 children. I don’t pay them directly; the adoptive parents give them food and supplies in exchange for the children. I stopped accepting children from them in November 2024, but I still went to retrieve the children from their adoptive parents.”
Lukman revealed that he and his wife were introduced to the illegal trade by Izuorah when they moved to Anambra for work. He confessed, “I’ve been involved in child trafficking since 2023. I bring children to Izuorah in exchange for N500,000 per child. She sells them to adoptive parents for N1 million or more.”
The police commissioner, Wilfred Afolabi, confirmed that the couple led officers to Anambra, where Izuorah was apprehended. During questioning, the suspects admitted to abducting children from both Ondo and Osun States and selling them to Izuorah for about N1 million per child.
