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A Nigerian couple, Mathew Ugochukwu and Oluwarankami Kehinde, have been arrested by the Ogun State Police Command in the Mowe area for allegedly stealing three children.
The command’s spokesperson, Babaseyi Oluseyi, revealed this in a statement posted on the command’s official X account on Wednesday, stating that police operatives rescued three children from the suspects.
According to the statement, the arrest followed a complaint made at the Mowe Division on Sunday by a resident of Omo Onile, Mowe. He said the complainant reported the case, narrating that while receiving treatment at a clinic on Saturday, one of the suspects visited her pretending to check on her condition.
PRESS RELEASE
OGUN POLICE CRACK CHILD STEALING SYNDICATE, ARREST HUSBAND AND WIFE, RESCUE 3 STOLEN CHILDREN IN MOWE
Detectives of Mowe Division, Ogun State Police Command, have successfully arrested a husband and wife, namely Oluwarankami Kehinde Ugochukwu ‘F’ and her husband,… pic.twitter.com/p2dt5ZCzC0
— Ogun State Police Command (@OgunPoliceNG) May 20, 2026
The police spokesperson said the woman allegedly took the complainant’s four-month-old baby under the pretence of assisting to care for the child while the mother rested and later ran away with the baby.
The statement reads: “Upon receipt of the report, detectives of the division were immediately mobilised. 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 in the Kekere Ekun area of Mowe on 18/05/2026 at about 7:55 p.m., where the stolen child was rescued alongside two other children found in their possession”.
The statement also stated that the couple were arrested and taken into custody.
According to the police authorities, preliminary investigations revealed that one of the other children found with the suspects had earlier been declared missing in a 2024 child-stealing case. The police noted the child was allegedly taken from a hairdressing salon using the same pattern of pretending to offer assistance.
“The biological parents of two of the rescued children have been contacted and have positively identified their wards,” the statement said.
Oluseyi also said that the case has been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department, Eleweran, Abeokuta, for further investigation.
