Policemen attached to the Plateau State police command have arrested an alleged child trafficking syndicate operating under the guise of an evangelical mission.
The syndicate, according to the police report preyed on vulnerable families, is accused of abducting young children and selling them for amounts between 350,000 and 750,000 Naira.
On December 2, 2024, law enforcement agencies conducted an intelligence-led operation that resulted in the rescue of five children aged between two and four years. These children had been abducted from various areas within Plateau State, including Jos.
The operation also led to the arrest of suspects, including one Pastor Di Bernard, leader of the “End Time Army Ministry” in Bukuru, Plateau State. Other individuals arrested in connection with the syndicate include R. Au from Karu, Abuja, Victoria Ugu Namman Pel and one Peter .
During their interrogations, the suspects allegedly provided key information about the operation of the trafficking network. Pastor Di Bernard allegedly confessed that he had been using his position as an evangelist to deceive parents into handing over their children. “I went to Quanpan District in Plateau State under the disguise of evangelism, I told the parents that I had an NGO offering sponsorship for education, from primary school all the way to higher institutions.”
The investigation revealed that between April and November 2024, Pastor Di Bernard had worked with R. Au to abduct at least eight children from different communities in the Kanke and Bassa Local Government Areas of Plateau State. The children were then sold to buyers in various states, including Plateau, Abia, Enugu, and Lagos, at prices ranging from 350,000 to 750,000 Naira per child.
The children were sold under the guise of adoption, with the buyers subsequently changing the children’s names. Law enforcement agencies successfully rescued 13 children, aged between two and ten years, who were found in the custody of the syndicate.
The children were returned to their families through the efforts of the Plateau State Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development. “This case is so pathetic, young children are being traded by certain individuals,” an official involved in the investigation remarked.
