Pentecostal Pastor Arrested for Trafficking 17 Children from Congo to Zambia

“A 35-year-old pastor of Chingola has been arrested for allegedly smuggling 17 children into Zambia from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Copperbelt police deputy commissioner, Milner Muyambango said in an interview yesterday that Moses Kamba Ndanji, a pastor at the Church of Christ in Chabanyama Township in Chingola, was arrested on Monday after he was caught with 17 children believed to have been smuggled in the country from the DRC.

The children were aged between two and eight years old.

Mr Muyambango said Ndanji was arrested around 14:00 hours after he was intercepted by alert police officers at the Konkola checkpoint in Chililabombwe.

“The suspect was arrested because he did not have proper documentation to warrant him being with the 17 foreign children, contrary to the correct procedure.

He claimed that he was taking the children to a big party in Chingola,” he said.

Mr Muyambango said Ndanji managed to elude the immigration officers because he did not go through the Kasumbalesa border post.

The suspect is believed to have used an unmanned border area to drive the children from the DRC into Zambia.

Mr Muyambango said after the suspect was arrested, the parents of the children were contacted and the juveniles handed back to them around 16:00 hours on Monday.

The parents of the children said they had willingly surrendered the children to Ndanji because they believed that he was taking them to a party in Chingola.

Mr Muyambango said Ndanji was also suspected to be a foreign national even if he had so far informed the police that he was Zambian.

He said the suspect will, today, appear in court in Chililabombwe.”

Chingola cops nab pastor

[Times of Zambia 12/7/11 by Rabbeca Mushota]

“Police said the pastor was apprehended on Monday at Konkola police checkpoint in Chililabombwe while on his way to Chingola.

Copperbelt deputy commissioner of police Milner Muyambango, who confirmed the arrest of the pastor, said the ‘man of God’ did not have travel documents for the children.

He named the suspect as Moses Kamba Ndanji of house number 8B Kwashuka Road, Chambanyama area in Chingola.

Mr Muyambango said Ndanji claimed he was taking the children for a party in Chingola but was intercepted at the checkpoint because he did not have travel documents for them.

“We have arrested a named pastor from a Pentecostal church in Chingola for trafficking 17 children between the ages of two and eight years.”

“He said police suspect the children were smuggled into Zambia for safety reasons in an event of post-election violence in the DRC.”
Police nab human trafficking pastor
[Daily Mail Zambia 12/7/11 by Nkombo Kachemba]

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