Husband and wife arrested for child traff!cking in Ogun

Detectives of Mowe Division, Ogun State Police Command, led by the Divisional Police Officer, CSP AFENIFORO FOLAKE, have successfully arrested a husband and wife, namely Oluwarankami Kehinde Ugochukwu ‘F’ and her husband, Ugochukwu Mathew ‘M’, over their alleged involvement in child theft and rescued three stolen children in Mowe area of Ogun State.

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The arrest followed a complaint lodged at Mowe Division on May 17 at about 10am by a resident of Omo Onile, Mowe, who reported that while she was receiving medical attention at a clinic in Mowe on May 16, one of the suspects, Oluwarankami Kehinde Ugochukwu ‘F’, visited under the guise of checking on her condition, deceitfully collected her four-month-old baby on the pretext of assisting with care while the mother rested, and thereafter absconded with the child.

Upon receipt of the report, detectives of the Division were immediately mobilized. Motor parks and strategic locations within the area were placed under surveillance while intelligence-led operations were intensified. Acting on credible intelligence, detectives tracked the suspects to their hideout at Kekere Ekun area of Mowe on mMay 18 at about 7:55pm, where the stolen child was rescued alongside two other children found in their possession. The husband and wife suspects were promptly arrested and taken into custody.

Confirming the arrest, the spokesperson of the command, DSP Oluseyi Babaseyi, said preliminary investigation revealed that one of the children found with the suspects had earlier been declared missing in a 2024 child stealing case, in which the child was taken from a hairdressing salon using the same deceptive method of pretending to offer assistance. Babaseyi mentioned that the biological parents of two of the rescued children have been contacted and have positively identified their wards.

He mentioned that the case has been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Eleweran, for discreet investigation.