The Plateau State Police Command has busted another child trafficking syndicate in the State after a credible intelligence received by the Joint Taskforce, which apprehended a woman named Nanman Pungtel at Old Airport junction Jos, the state capital.
The State had been in the news recently over reported cases of child trafficking.
It was gathered that the suspect was found with 3 kids in her custody, which she couldn’t explain. Further investigation led to the arrest of the masterminder of the trafficking operations, one Pastor Dayo Bernard of End Time Army Ministry in Bukuru, on the same night.
The operation led to the rescue of five children between the ages of two and four abducted from various homes in Kwande district of Qua’anpan LGA of the State, and the subsequent arrest of other members of the syndicate identified as Rita Agboeze, Victoria Ugwu, and Peter Ukwuani.
The suspects, who were ferried from Jos to Abuja, were later paraded by the Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi.
However, the kingpin and principal suspect, Pastor Dayo, confessed to have abducted and sold 13 Plateau children at various prices ranging from ₦350,000 to ₦750,000, all of whom have been recovered by the police and reunited with their families.
Piqued by the development, Plateau State Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Mrs Panglang Dafur, also fingered some religious leaders and other institutions of being complicit in child trafficking in the state.
On his part, the President of Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN), Rev. Dr. Amos Mohzo, who spoke on the development, urged pastors to use the pulpits and raise awareness among members over the rising cases of child trafficking especially on the Plateau.
According to him, the reports of sharp rise of child trafficking on the Plateau was alarming, hence the need for church leaders to speak to families on the implications of the ungodly act and how to address the menace.
”We are not lazy people to that extent in Plateau State, and we are Christians, that should not be found among us,” Dr. Mohzo stated.
It will be recalled that Governor Caleb Mutfwang, during his recent statewide broadcast to mark the New Year celebration, read the riot act to the perpetrators of the dastardly act.
Mutfwang decried the habit of some individuals who have taken child trafficking as business in the state.
He warned that the State government under his watch will take a decisive action against those who indulge in the criminal activity while encouraging parents to take absolute responsibility for raising their children and safeguarding them against the menace.
