Couple who use their son as Collateral Caught

46-year-old Abiola Wahab and his wife Toyin Abiola, have given child trafficking a new face. The couple were said to have been into this crime for a long time and have been on the run until nemesis caught up with them in Obatoko, Ogun State and they were arrested by the Special Armed Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Ogun State Police Command, where they are undergoing interrogation

The pair are said to have serially used their three-year-old son, an innocent boy, as collateral to defraud alot of victims, from whom they borrowed money or bought goods on credit, which they sold and never paid the creditors. Giving insight to their modus operandi,the commissioner of police of the state said that they would visit a distributor, collect goods worth millions of naira, pay in some money and then disappear and never return to settle the debt. He said the couple had duped victims in Oyo, Lagos, Osun and Ogun states. To facilitate their operation and avoid detection, the police commissioner said that the couple always switched the number plate on their vehicle, which they drove to the business premises of their victims. This way, they were able to make it impossible for the victim who may have copied the vehicle number to trace them.


The commissioner added that the command had been receiving several complaints about a couple that was duping major distributors and deceitfully taking goods from them on credit but never returning to pay. Based on these complaints, the police commissioner said that an investigation was launched by the command. Through diligent investigation, the police was able to track down the couple. They were arrested during a raid by a team of SARS operatives. The commander of SARS, Supol Uba revealed that the couple was nabbed in a home they built in Ikire, Osun State.

When Toyin spoke with Sunday Sun at the headquarters of SARS, Toyin disclosed that prior to her getting involved in the fraudulent act alleged against her, she had been engaged in distribution of rice. In Her words, she said:

 “I was into distribution of rice in Ikiru, Osun state. In 2008, somebody duped me of N1 million after I had supplied rice. My clients were pestering me for their money. The case was transferred to State CID Oshogbo and I was arraigned in court. The magistrate ordered that I be remanded at Ilesha prison and adjourned the case. I was nine months old pregnant at the time. I delivered my second child in prison. The day that the magistrate granted me bail was also the day I gave birth. I spent only five days in the prison, and that was why I named my baby Aishat Abiola. The court ordered that we pay off the money within one month, but I could not afford to pay. So I jumped bail.” She explained further: “Life was so difficult for us, the family of my husband and my own family assisted us and gave us N770,000 naira. We used the money to buy a car in Apapa in 2013. My husband and myself started trading in rice again. We would go to Saki to buy rice and resell. One day, a Customs officer duped us. That was also when we began to dupe other people. We have duped a lot of people. We would collect assorted drinks and promise to pay but we would not go back again. “When we go to visit a prospective victim, I would wear a hijab to disguise myself and seem like a pious Muslim woman. I would pay an amount with a promise to pay the balance after selling the goods. But I never went back.”


Also speaking, her husband Wahab said:
that he married Toyin 11 years ago and they had faced difficulties in the course of the marriage. During their alleged fraudulent activities, he told Sunday Sun that they often took along their three-year-old son and pretended that he was sick. “We used our three-year-old son as collateral in the deal and pretend that he was not feeling well,” . The unfortunate victims would because of the ill-health of the toddler show pity on the couple and allow them to go away with goods while temporarily leaving behind the supposedly sick child in the care of the victim, with the promise that they would come back to collect him and pay for the goods. Cunningly, the wife would come back to take the child and disappear.


The couple’s bubble burst when they were perfecting arrangements for another duping expedition. As they were relaxing in the comfort of their home, SARS operatives who had been on their trail swooped on them and their child and arrested them.

Some victims have been called to identify the culprits and they would be charged to court soon,the police. Says.