An Ondo State Magistrate Court in Akure has ordered the remand of three individuals Sabira Izuora, Lukman Isiaka, and Abosede Olanipekun at the Olokuta Correctional Centre for allegedly kidnapping and selling 14 children. The trio was arrested by the state police for kidnapping four babies and 10 other underage children in Osun and Ondo states. The police claimed that Isiaka and Olanipekun abducted the children in both states and sold them to Izuora, who ran an orphanage in Enugu State.
According to the state’s Commissioner of Police, Mr. Wilfred Afolabi, during the parade of the defendants, each child was sold to the 62-year-old Izuora for N500,000, and she later sold the babies for N1 million each. The suspects were charged in court with seven counts, including conspiracy, abduction, felony, obtaining by false pretenses, and aiding and abetting.
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The police, however, only filed charges for the theft of two babies, while the other children were still in their custody. The prosecutor, Inspector Augustine Omhenimhen, told the court that the crimes occurred between July 21, 2023, and August 27, 2024, in various locations. He said that on July 21, 2023, Olanipekun and Isiaka abducted Ayomide Abass from his mother in Akure, and on August 27, 2024, they kidnapped a nine-month-old baby, Bright, from her mother in Arigidi-Akoko, Ondo State.
The prosecutor further accused Izuora of receiving the victims and paying N900,000 for each child, knowing they were stolen. These alleged crimes violate the Criminal Code and the Ondo State Anti-Kidnapping and Anti-Abduction Law of 2010.
Inspector Omhenimhen requested that the defendants be remanded at the Olokuta Correctional Centre while awaiting advice from the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP). Magistrate Taiwo Lebi ruled that the court lacked jurisdiction to hear the case and ordered the defendants to be remanded. The case was adjourned until April 10, 2025, for further proceedings.
