Police nab husband, wife with 3 suspected stolen children in Ogun

By Ayorinde Oluokun

Police operatives in Ogun have arrested a woman identified as Oluwarankami Kehinde Ugochukwu and her husband, Ugochukwu Mathew, over alleged involvement in theft of three children in Mowe area of Ogun State.

The three stolen children were also rescued from the home of the couple, Oluseyi Babaseyi, the spokesperson of Ogun Police Command said in a statement on Wednesday.

According to the statement, the arrests followed report at Mowe Division on 17th May by a resident of Omo Onile community in Mowe that the Oluwarankami Kehinde Ugochukwu visited her at the hospital when she was undergoing treatment, deceitfully collected her four-month-old baby and absconded.

Babaseyi said following the report, police detectives of Mowe Division were immediately mobilized to put motor parks and strategic locations within the area were placed under surveillance.

However, he said the suspect was eventually tracked to her hideout at Kekere Ekun area of Mowe on 18 March at about 7:55pm, where the stolen child was rescued alongside two other children found in the home.

The husband-and-wife suspects were also promptly arrested and taken into custody.

Babaseyi said preliminary investigation revealed that one of the children found with the suspects was declared missing in a 2024.

This was after the child was taken from a hairdressing salon by the female suspect using the same deceptive method of pretending to offer assistance.

Babaseyi said the biological parents of two of the rescued children have been contacted and have positively identified their wards while the case been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Eleweran, for discreet investigation.

“The Commissioner of Police, Ogun State Command, CP Bode Ojajuni, commends the swift response, professionalism, and commitment of the officers and men of Mowe Division, whose proactive efforts led to the arrest of the suspects and rescue of the children. The CP reiterated the Command’s resolve to sustain the fight against child trafficking, abduction, and other violent crimes across the State,” Babaseyi said.