The Federal Capital Territory Police Command’s operatives from Rapid Response Squad 74 have apprehended a pastor named Simon Kado, along with his relative Jesse Simon-Kado and their driver Muhammad Isah, on charges of child trafficking.
The arrest took place on Friday when they were caught transporting 12 underage children, comprising eight girls and four boys aged between five and 16 years old, from Nasarawa State to Ogun State.
SP Josephine Adeh, the Police Public Relations Officer of the FCT, issued a statement on Saturday to inform the public about this significant development.
Adeh said, “Operatives of the FCT Police Command attached to the Rapid Response Squad 74, on Friday, February 9, at about 12:55 am, intercepted one Muhammad Isah, male, of Kafanchan, Kaduna State, in a Toyota Hiace bus with Reg No. APP 489 XE, conveying twelve; four male and eight female; underaged children to a destination later discovered to be in Ogun State.
“Preliminary investigation revealed that the children, whose ages are between five years to 16 years, all from Akwanga LGA, Nasarawa State were being trafficked to Ogun state by one Pastor Simon Kado, male, and Jesse Simon-Kado, male, who are now presently in police custody.
“While the investigation is still ongoing and efforts in conduit with Nasarawa State Police Command on how to reunite victims with their respective families, the Commissioner of Police FCT, Benneth Igweh, wishes to reiterate that the safety of residents remains his utmost priority.”
The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has recently witnessed a significant increase in both kidnapping and bandit attacks.
In the month of January 2024, law enforcement officers from the Special Intervention Squad, operating under the Federal Capital Territory Police Command, successfully eliminated three well-known bandits in a forest located within the Bwari area of Abuja.
During that same month, a notorious kidnapper known as Janari, who was responsible for orchestrating numerous abductions in Kaduna State and Abuja, along with some of his associates, was killed by the air component of Operation Whirl Punch during operations conducted in Kaduna State.
