Troops rescue 5 stolen children and arrest 17-year-old drug suspect in Planalto
Troops of Operation Whirl Strike (OPWS) operating in Benue, Nasarawa and Taraba States have rescued five children who were stolen from Shendam Local Government Area of Plateau State.
The Commander of OPWS, Major General Sunday Igbinomwanhia, who paraded the suspect on Wednesday, November 22, 2023, alongside the rescued children at the OPWS headquarters at the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) Tactical Command in Makurdi, Benue State , revealed that the main culprit escaped during the operation.
He explained that the 17-year-old suspect, Samuel Otu, an indigene of Akwa Ibom State, whose job was to arrange the children for a woman, Tina Nkechi, who lived in Abuja, was about to transport the children when the soldiers surrounded them down on he.
“On November 20, 2023, at around 8 pm, Sector 3 of the OPWS, acting on intelligence following the activities of human traffickers, arrested Samuel Otu (17), suspected of human trafficking, with five minor children : two boys and three girls, at Transit Park in Lafia town, Lafia LGA of Nasarawa State,” he said.
“The union leader, upon seeing troops, abandoned the children with Samuel Otu. The children’s names are Masters Nasiru, Apinan, Mses Khariat, Izan and Adinan. They are between two and five years old.
“The item recovered from the suspect’s possession is a Tecno phone. During preliminary investigation, the suspect alleged that he worked for one Mrs. Tina Nkechi, who resides in Abuja.
“The suspect also alleged that the children were stolen from their parents in Angwan-Kabir village in Shendam LGA of Plateau State and were to be transferred to Abuja.
The commander then handed over the children to the Makurdi Zonal Command of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP).
The NAPTIP Chief of Operations in command, Felix Akperaga, who received the children, said further investigations would be instituted into the matter while efforts would be made to find the parents of the children so that they could be reunited with their families.
Source: www.lindaikejisblog.com