48-Year-Old Pastor Jailed 14 Years For Trafficking Two Children

A Kaduna State-based cleric, Pastor Bawa Madaki, who trafficked two children, aged five and seven years old, has been sentenced to 14 years imprisonment by a High Court in Nasarawa State on Monday without an option of fine in a judgment delivered.

The 48-year-old Madaki was arrested by the police in May 2015, before he was handed over to operatives of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons and other related matters.

The pastor was reportedly arraigned on two counts of fraudulently procuring the two underage children from their parents in the Zanzo Kataf Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

Pastor Bawa Madaki, who doesn't display any atom of Christianity, subsequently sent one child to Lagos in “an illegal adoption arrangement and the other to Federal Capital Territory, Abuja as a domestic worker, thus depriving their parents of the children.”

According to the NAPTIP Head of Press and Public Relations, Josiah Emerole, said Madaki’s actions contravened Section 19 (e) of the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Law Enforcement and Administration Act.

He said, “A cleric, Pastor Bawa Madaki, from Kaduna State, has been sentenced to 14 years’ imprisonment for child trafficking. The accused was arraigned on two counts of fraudulently procuring two underage children from their parents.

“The trial commenced on June 23, 2015, and on Monday, March 26, 2018, the court found the accused guilty.

“The Director-General, NAPTIP, Julie Okah-Donli, has therefore cautioned the public against illegal adoption and engagement of underage children as domestic workers, who are often maltreated and abused by their employers.

“We warn detractors to desist from such acts as the long arm of the law will catch up with them if they fail to do so. This brings the convictions secured by NAPTIP to 342.”