Ogun Couple Arrested for Allegedly Stealing Three Children

A couple, Mathew Ugochukwu and Oluwarankami Kehinde, has been arrested by the Ogun State Police Command in the Mowe area over alleged child stealing.

The command’s spokesperson, Babaseyi Oluseyi, said in a statement that three children were rescued from the suspects.

According to the police, a resident of Omo Onile, Mowe, reported at the Mowe Division on Sunday that while she was receiving treatment at a clinic, a woman visited her pretending to check on her condition. The woman allegedly collected her four-month-old baby under the pretence of helping to care for the child while the mother rested, then disappeared with the baby.

Detectives were mobilised and, acting on intelligence, tracked the suspects to their hideout in the Kekere Ekun area of Mowe on May 18, 2026, at about 7:55 pm. The stolen child was rescued alongside two other children found in their possession.

Preliminary investigations revealed that one of the other children had been declared missing in a 2024 child-stealing case. That child was allegedly taken from a hairdressing salon using the same method of pretending to offer help.

The biological parents of two of the rescued children have been contacted and have identified their wards.

The case has been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department in Eleweran, Abeokuta, for further investigation.

The Commissioner of Police in Ogun State, Bode Ojajuni, commended officers for their swift response and reaffirmed the command’s commitment to fighting child trafficking and abduction.