Police in Ondo State have arrested a couple, Isiaka Lukman, 42, and his wife, Abosede, 23, on charges of child theft and trafficking.
The couple confessed to stealing 11 children from Osun and Ondo States since 2023. They allegedly worked with a 62-year-old woman, Sabira Izuorah, based in Ihiala, Anambra State, who received the stolen children and facilitated their trafficking.
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Mr Lukman admitted to his crimes during a police parade at the state headquarters, shedding light on a disturbing child trafficking operation.
“When we see children playing carelessly, we will tell the children that we want to buy them Bobo (a bottled juice loved by little children), and when they follow us a little distance, say five or 10 minutes, we will now stop a bike and carry the child straight to the motor park and head for Anambra State,” the suspect revealed.
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Asked how he managed to keep the children from crying and drawing attention, he explained that he would ensure they got enough sweets and biscuits and keep them busy watching cartoons on his phone until they got to their destination.
“When we arrive, the woman pays us N500,000 per child,” he alleged.
Mr Lukman also said he is a bricklayer and had gone to work at Mrs Izuorah’s residence at Ihiala when she introduced him to the acts of child stealing.
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Explaining how the police burst the syndicate, the Ondo State Commissioner of Police, Wilfred Afolabi, said a case of a missing child was reported at Okuta Elerin-Nla Division in Akure by a female complainant, reporting that a man, Samuel Adejobi (real name: Lukman Isiaka), and a woman, Ewatomi (real name: Abosede Olanipekun), came to her shop pretending to be siblings to eat while playing with her child.
The commissioner said, “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 she follow her to Olukayode Plaza in the market to get a mobile phone; on getting to the market area, he abandoned her and left. On returning to the shop, the complainant discovered that her child was missing, and she had no trace of Abosede, the supposed sister of the man she had followed to the market. Thus, a report was made to the division.
“Through intelligence-led policing, the suspects were traced to Ottah Village in Edo State, where they were arrested.
“During interrogation, the suspects admitted to abducting the child and other children from Ondo and Osun States and selling them to one Sabira Izuorah ‘f’ aged 62 years in Ihiala, Anambra State, at the rate of One Million Naira (₦1,000,000) per child.
“Subsequently, Sabina was arrested in Ihiala, and the following babies were found in her custody: 1. Baby Favour (female, 3 weeks old), 2. Baby Chidera (female, 2 weeks old), 3. Baby Chinyere (female, 2 months and 5 days old), and 4. Baby Uzoma (male, 1 week old).
“Also, on the 14th of January 2025, 10 children sold by Mrs Izuorah were rescued from various locations, and their parents identified the following: 1. Dauda Alarape (male, 3½ years); 2. Babalola David (male, 4 years); 3. Asaolu Pamilerin (7 years); 4. Ayomide Abass (male, 2 years, stolen from Orita-Obele, Akure); 5. Komolafe Oluwasekemi (female, 4 years, stolen from Igado, Ilesha); 6. Adedeji Olalekan (male, 6½ years); 7. Ahmed Abdulrasaq (male, 5½ years, stolen from Ibodi Town, Osun State); 8. Mary Wuraola (female, 2 years, stolen from Ilesha, Osun State); 9. Mubarak Akinwunmi (male, 6 years, stolen from Osogbo, Osun State); 10. Unknown child (name/parents yet to be identified, stolen from Osun State).
“Some children are currently on the missing list, while efforts are ongoing to locate and rescue them. The suspects will be charged to court upon completion of the investigation.”
However, Mrs Izuorah has denied any wrongdoing, saying she ran a registered orphanage known as Clara Children’s Care and Reform Initiatives, which came into full operation in 2020.
“I have a registered orphanage and retired as a director in the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs in Anambra State. I take care of children, even these small children brought in by their mothers, until they need them,” she said.
She said she never paid for any of the children brought by Mr Lukman, as the man claimed they were abandoned children on the streets.
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She also said needy parents adopted the children and would settle Lukman and his wife, a transaction she wasn’t a part of.
She said the adoption of the children followed due process according to the laws of Anambra State.
But the Police have dispelled her claims, saying her so-called orphanage was better described as a “criminal hideout.”
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