A Federal High Court sitting in Calabar, Cross River State, has sentenced a couple to five years’ imprisonment each for attempting to sell their one-year-old son for ₦800,000.
Delivering judgment on Thursday, Justice Rosemary Oghoghorie convicted the defendants—Emmanuel Okechukwu Ogbodo, 28, and Peace Ufeabuchi Nnamonu, 22—on a two-count charge bordering on conspiracy and attempted child trafficking.
Justice Oghoghorie sentenced each of them to five years in prison on count one and two and a half years on count two, ordering that the sentences run concurrently from the respective dates of their arrest.
How the Plot Was Foiled
According to the Cross River Command of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), the couple attempted to sell their toddler to a third party for ₦800,000.
The transaction was intercepted after the prospective buyer alerted NAPTIP operatives to the illegal offer, prompting swift intervention by the agency.
Following their arrest, the prosecution filed a two-count charge against the duo on October 12 under Sections 27 and 29 of the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act, 2015. Both defendants pleaded guilty upon their arraignment on November 3.
