Plateau Youth Council Demands Immediate Rescue of 17-Year-Old Girl Allegedly Kidnapped and Forcefully Converted in Kaduna State

A 17-year-old girl left home for school one morning and never came back. What her family found in the weeks that followed is the kind of story that should make every parent's stomach drop.

The Plateau State Youth Council has issued an urgent call for the immediate rescue of Miss Jinkai Yusuf Simon, a 17-year-old student from Pankshin Local Government Area of Plateau State, who was allegedly abducted and subjected to forced religious conversion in Kaduna State. The statement, jointly signed by PYC Chairman Panan Gongden Dapar and Public Relations Officer Bahal Nanpyal Mark, was released on Monday and demands swift action from state governments, security agencies, and child protection authorities.

Jinkai is a Senior Secondary School 1 student and an indigene of Danchor in Pankshin LGA, Plateau State. At the time of her disappearance, she was living with her older sister in Kuregu, Zaria, Kaduna State, while attending St. Bartholomew's Secondary School in Wusasa.

Her family resides in Banki, Kubau LGA of Kaduna State. She left home for school on an unspecified date and did not return. Days of searching followed before her school bag was found in the possession of a minor allegedly linked to a neighbor identified as Rukkaya.

Rukkaya initially denied any knowledge of Jinkai's whereabouts. She later admitted that the teenager had been in contact with a man identified as Abdulsamad.

What investigators and the PYC uncovered from there is deeply alarming:

• Photographic evidence allegedly shows Jinkai dressed in a hijab alongside Rukkaya
• Alleged court affidavits from Kano State indicate her name was changed to "Aisha Sani" and later "Aisha Abdulsamad"
• Documents also allegedly show her age was altered in those affidavits
• The changes, if confirmed, suggest a deliberate attempt to erase her identity and sever legal ties to her family

The PYC's statement describes this as bearing "the clear markings of child trafficking, exploitation, and abuse."

The council's statement does not just make moral arguments. It cites specific legal violations allegedly committed in this case:

• Section 38 of the 1999 Constitution, which guarantees freedom of religion
• Section 34, which protects human dignity
• Section 35, which guarantees personal liberty
• Section 27 of the Child Rights Act 2003, which prohibits the unlawful removal of a child from parental or guardian custody

On the question of consent, the PYC is unambiguous. As a minor, Jinkai cannot legally give informed consent to marriage, religious conversion, or any change of identity. Whatever documentation exists purporting otherwise has no legal standing.

The Plateau State Youth Council is calling on the following bodies to act immediately in the Jinkai Yusuf Simon kidnapping Kaduna case:

• The Plateau and Kaduna State governments to launch a thorough investigation
• The Department of State Services to intervene in securing her release
• NAPTIP, the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, to treat this as a child trafficking case
• The Nigeria Police Force to identify, arrest, and prosecute everyone involved
• Authorities to ensure Jinkai's rescue, rehabilitation, and safe reunification with her family

The PYC's statement closes with a commitment that carries weight: "We will continue to pursue justice until Miss Jinkai is safely returned."

To be direct about it: the Jinkai Yusuf Simon kidnapping Kaduna case contains nearly every element that defines child trafficking. A minor. An adult man. An alleged intermediary. A name change. Forged documents. And a family left searching while the system moves slowly.

Nigeria has laws. NAPTIP exists. The Child Rights Act is on the books. The question, as it so often is in cases like this, is whether the institutions responsible for enforcing those protections will treat this with the urgency it demands or allow it to become another file that closes without resolution.

A child is missing. Her name is Jinkai Yusuf Simon. She is 17 years old. And the people responsible for her safety have names, addresses, and allegedly, court documents that can be traced.

There is no ambiguity here about what needs to happen next.

This story will be updated as developments emerge.