The Ondo State Police Command has apprehended three suspects allegedly involved in a child trafficking syndicate following a sting operation. The suspects: Lukman Isiaka, 43; Abosede Olanipekun, 23; and Sabira Izuorah, 68, were arrested in connection with the abduction and sale of no fewer than 14 babies and toddlers from Akure, the Ondo State capital, and Ilesha in Osun State.
The victims, including infants aged between two weeks and two months, were recovered from Izuorah’s purported orphanage, Clarion Children’s Care and Reforms Initiatives, located in Ihiala, Anambra State. According to police investigations, the children were trafficked to the orphanage by the couple, Lukman and Abosede, for subsequent sale to adoptive parents.
While being paraded at the police headquarters in Akure, Izuorah, a self-proclaimed retired director from the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs, Anambra State, admitted to receiving children from the couple. She claimed her orphanage, which began operations in 2020, was registered and received food items and supplies from adoptive parents in lieu of payment.
“Lukman and his wife brought 11 children to me,” Izuorah stated. “I stopped them in November 2024, but I recovered the children from adoptive parents after the police started investigating. This practice didn’t start with me, and it will not end with me.”
Lukman, a bricklayer, confessed to having been involved in the crime since 2023. He alleged that Izuorah introduced him to the trade during a job in Anambra State. According to him, he was paid N500,000 for each child he brought, while Izuorah resold the children for N1 million or more.
Detailing his modus operandi, Lukman said: “My wife and I would lure children by offering them biscuits and soft drinks. Once they followed us, we would take them on a motorbike to the park and travel to Anambra State, where we handed them over to Izuorah.”
Meanwhile, the Ondo State Commissioner of Police, Wilfred Afolabi, commended the efforts of police operatives in rescuing the victims. He revealed that the couple was tracked to Ottah village in Edo State before leading investigators to Izuorah in Anambra State.
disclosed that the investigation began following a report of a missing child at the Okuta Elerin-Nla Division in Akure. The complainant said Abosede had deceived her by offering to buy biscuits for her child while Lukman distracted her with a conversation. By the time the complainant returned to her shop, her child and Abosede were gone.
“During interrogation, the suspects confessed to abducting children from Ondo and Osun States and selling them to Izuorah for N1 million each,” Afolabi said. He added that some children remain unaccounted for, but efforts are underway to locate and rescue them. The suspects are expected to face prosecution after the investigation concludes. (Guardian)
