Troops from Operation Whirl Strike (OPWS) in Benue, Nasarawa, and Taraba states rescued five children kidnapped in Plateau State’s Shendam Local Government Area.
The OPWS Commander, Major General Sunday Igbinomwanhia, who paraded the suspect alongside the rescued children on Wednesday, November 22, 2023, at the OPWS headquarters at the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) Tactical Command in Makurdi, Benue State, revealed that the main culprit escaped during the raid.
He revealed that the 17-year-old suspect, Samuel Otu, an indigene of Akwa Ibom State, was ready to convey the children for a woman, Tina Nkechi, who lived in Abuja when the troops clamped down on him.
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“On November 20, 2023, at about 8 pm, Sector 3 of OPWS acting on intelligence following the activities of human traffickers, arrested Samuel Otu (17), a suspected human trafficker, with five underage children: two boys and three girls, at the Transit Park in Lafia town, Lafia LGA of Nasarawa State,” he said.
“The ringleader of the syndicate, on sighting troops, abandoned the children with Samuel Otu. The names of the children are Masters Nasiru, Apinan, Mses Khariat, Izan and Adinan. They are between the ages of two and five.
“The item recovered in the suspect’s possession is a Tecno phone. During preliminary investigation, the suspect claimed he was working for one Mrs Tina Nkechi, who is based in Abuja.
“The suspect also claimed that the children were stolen from their parents in Angwan-Kabir village in Shendam LGA of Plateau State and were to be moved to Abuja.”
The children were then handed over to the Makurdi Zonal Command of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) by the commander.
The children were received by NAPTIP’s Head of Operations in the command, Felix Akperaga, who stated that additional investigation would be launched and efforts would be made to locate the children’s parents so they could be reunited with their relatives.