Police arrested husband and wife who stole a baby in Ogun, aged 4 months, two others were rescued

Officers of the Ogun State Police Command have arrested a couple said to be running a child theft syndicate in Mowe area of ​​Ogun State.

Police also rescued a four-month-old baby stolen about two days earlier and two others, one of which was stolen in 2024 from its parents.

The police also arrested a husband and wife who were suspected of being connected to the baby’s kidnapping.

Police spokesperson, DSP Oluseyi Babaseyi, in a statement on Wednesday, identified the suspects as Oluwarankami Kehinde Ugochukwu and her husband, Ugochukwu Mathew.

Babaseyi said they were arrested by detectives attached to Mowe Division following an intelligence-led operation coordinated by the Divisional Police Officer, CSP Afeniforo Folake.

According to him, the arrest was triggered by a complaint lodged on 17 May 2026 from a resident of Omo Onile area in Mowe, who reported that her four-month-old baby had been stolen the previous day while she was undergoing treatment at a clinic.

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He added that the female suspect allegedly visited the clinic under the pretense of caring for a breastfeeding mother before fraudulently taking custody of the baby under the guise of helping care for the child.

“She then ran away with the baby,” the statement said.

Following the report, detectives immediately launched a manhunt, placing car parks and strategic locations under surveillance while intensifying intelligence gathering across the area.

The operation bore fruit on May 18 at around 7.55pm when detectives tracked the suspects to a hideout in the Kekere Ekun area of ​​Mowe. The stolen baby was found with two other children found to belong to the couple.

Further preliminary investigations revealed that one of the rescued children had been declared missing in a similar child theft incident reported in 2024, where the victim was allegedly taken from a hairdressing salon using the same fraudulent tactics.

Police said the biological parents of the two rescued children have been identified and reunited with their children.

The case has now been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Eleweran, Abeokuta, for further investigation.

Commending the swift response of the officers involved, the Commissioner of Police in Ogun State, CP Bode Ojajuni, reiterated his command’s commitment to tackling child trafficking, kidnapping and other violent crimes across the state.

He also appealed to residents to remain alert and report suspicious activity via the command emergency line.