Members of the Rapid Response Squad 74, part of the Federal Capital Territory Police Command, apprehended Pastor Simon Kado, his relative Jesse Simon-Kado, and their driver, Muhammad Isah, on charges related to child trafficking.
They were apprehended on Friday while transporting 12 underage children – eight girls and four boys aged between five and 16 years – from Nasarawa State to Ogun State.
The statement disclosing this development was issued by SP Josephine Adeh, the FCT Police Public Relations Officer, on Saturday.
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.”
Recently, there has been a notable increase in kidnapping and banditry incidents in the FCT.
In January 2024, members of the Special Intervention Squad under the Federal Capital Territory Police Command successfully eliminated three notorious bandits in a forest located within the Bwari area of Abuja.
During that same month, Janari, a prominent figure identified as a kidnapping kingpin responsible for numerous abductions in Kaduna State and Abuja, along with several of his accomplices, were eliminated in operations carried out by the air component of Operation Whirl Punch in Kaduna State.