Five children have been rescued by Troops of Operation Whirl Stroke, OPWS, from a suspected human trafficker and kidnapper at Shendam in Plateau State.
Troops of the OPWS arrested the suspect, 17-year-old Samuel Ottuh.
Samuel, according to the report, is a resident of Akwa-Ibom State.
The OPSW Commander, Maj. Gen Sunday Igbinomwanhia disclosed this while parading the suspected kidnapper before journalists at the Tactical Air Command NAF Base, Makurdi in Benue State.
According to Igbinomwanhia, members of his team acted on credible intelligence and arrested the suspect when he was about to take off with the kidnapped minors.
He said the kingpin of the trafficking cartel, on sighting the troops, disappeared leaving Samuel who is now in custody.
The OPSW Commander further stated that the five minors, two boys and three girls, ranging between the ages of 2-5 years could not pronounce the names of their communities or remember the names of their parents.
He said the suspect, however, confessed to committing the crime but said he was working for an Abuja-based woman whom he gave her name as Mrs Tina Nkechi.
The suspect confessed that the children were stolen at Shendam in Plateau State and were being conveyed to Abuja to give Mrs. Tina Nkechi before luck ran out of them at a park in Nasarawa State.
The Commander OPWS further disclosed that the suspect revealed how members of their syndicate came to live in the community for a long time as tenants and got themselves acquainted with community members and parents of the kidnapped children to avoid suspicion before they carried out their nefarious act.
He disclosed that the five children have been handed over to NAPTIP.
In his remarks, the State coordinator of NAPTIP, represented by the head of operations, Felix Akperaga, said the agency would carry out an investigation to apprehend the main suspects and identify the parents of the rescued children.