A masquerade festival disappearance in June cracked open a network allegedly spanning Oyo, Ogun and Delta states, with six children reported dead in captivity.

The Oyo State Police Command says its operatives have rescued 17 children and arrested seven suspects linked to an alleged interstate child-stealing and trafficking syndicate operating across Oyo, Ogun and Delta states.

Commissioner of Police Abimbola Ayodeji Olugbenga paraded the suspects during a press briefing at the command headquarters in Eleyele, Ibadan, on Monday.

How a missing-child case cracked the network open

Olugbenga said the investigation began after a petition dated 29 July 2026 was submitted by Adejoke Popoola, also known as Orente Alagbo, over allegations of conspiracy, cyberbullying, threat to life and defamation.

The petition was assigned to the Anti-Kidnapping Squad on 3 August, and detectives soon linked it to the disappearance of three-year-old Ifakunle Ifagbenro, who went missing during a masquerade festival in Oyo Town on 29 June.

Pictorial and video evidence from the event allegedly showed Popoola carrying the child shortly before he disappeared. She was arrested on 4 August and reportedly admitted leaving the festival with him.

“Her statement provided the first major breakthrough into the wider criminal network,” Olugbenga said.

The wider network allegedly uncovered

According to the commissioner, Popoola told detectives she had been involved in stealing more than 15 children, aged between two and seven, from churches, parties and other event venues within and outside Oyo State.

She identified Adekanbi Janet, also known as Hosanna, as an alleged accomplice, who was arrested in Mowe, Ogun State, where four children aged two to four were rescued alongside two pregnant young women.

Olugbenga said Janet, who admitted knowing Popoola for about 10 years, told detectives that some stolen children were kept in custody pending sale, while the pregnant women were held until they gave birth.

Her information reportedly helped detectives locate Ifakunle, rescued around the Gbagi area of Ibadan on 20 August. She reportedly denied having custody of Ifakunle specifically.

The investigation later extended to Agbor, Delta State, where four children allegedly stolen from Oyo were rescued from their buyers on 2 September. Two suspects, Christopher Joy, 48, and Rosemary Jesse, 53, were arrested in connection with that leg of the operation.

Alleged ritual dimension and deaths in captivity

Olugbenga said the interstate reach of the network was confirmed by these developments, and that the investigation also uncovered an alleged ritual dimension.

He said suspects disclosed that when a child died in custody, the body could allegedly be sold to ritualists, leading to the arrest of Muritala Fasasi, described as an Islamic cleric, and Yakubu Azeez, a herbalist, both of whom the commissioner said had confessed to involvement in using the children for ritual purposes.

The seven suspects arrested were named as Popoola, Janet, Joy, Jesse, Fasasi, Azeez and Ismaila Alabede. Olugbenga said six children, Musharaf Lawal Tajudeen, 2; Greatness Adeagbo, 5; Sainat Amoo, 2; Taiwo Usman, 2; Daniel Solomon Olayinka, 7; and Miracle Olaniyi, 4, died while in the custody of their alleged abductors.

The commissioner urged parents and guardians who have recently lost children to visit the command headquarters in Eleyele, Ibadan, to identify the rescued children and facilitate reunification with their families.

He said the command is working with other security and government agencies to uncover the network’s full structure, locate any other missing children, and establish the circumstances surrounding the reported deaths.