Court Sentences Couple Five Years Each for Attempting to Sell One-Year-Old Son for ₦800,000

The Federal High Court 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.

The convicts, Emmanuel Okechukwu Ogbodo, 28, and Peace Ufeabuchi Nnamonu, 22, were found guilty of conspiracy and attempted child trafficking.

In a judgment delivered on Thursday, Justice Rosemary Oghoghorie sentenced the couple to five years’ imprisonment each on the first count and two-and-a-half years on the second count. The sentences are to run concurrently.

The judge also directed that the prison terms should take effect from the dates the defendants were arrested.

According to the Cross River Command of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), the couple had allegedly arranged to sell their infant son to another person for ₦800,000.

NAPTIP disclosed that the case came to light after the prospective buyer alerted the agency about the planned transaction. The tip-off led to the agency’s intervention and the prevention of the child’s sale.

The couple pleaded guilty to the two-count charge filed on October 12 and were subsequently arraigned on November 3.

The charges were brought against them under Sections 27 and 29 of the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act, 2015.