CROSS RIVER, CALABAR – A Federal High Court in Calabar has sentenced a couple to five years’ imprisonment each for attempting to sell their one-year-old son for ₦800,000 in Cross River State.
The convicts, Emmanuel Okechukwu Ogbodo, 28, and Peace Ufeabuchi Nnamonu, 22, were found guilty of conspiracy and attempting to sell the child for exploitation, contrary to Sections 27 and 29 of the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition), Enforcement and Administration Act, 2015.
According to a notice issued by the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Cross River State Command, the attempted transaction was intercepted after the intended buyer reported the arrangement to the agency.
The report prompted NAPTIP’s intervention, leading to the arrest of the couple before the proposed sale could be completed.
The agency disclosed that both defendants pleaded guilty to the two-count charge filed on October 12, 2026, and were arraigned on November 3.
Delivering judgment on November 11, 2026, Justice Rosemary Dugbo Oghoghorie sentenced each convict to five years’ imprisonment on the first count and two-and-a-half years on the second count.
However, the court ordered the sentences to run concurrently and commence from their respective dates of arrest, making the effective prison term five years each.
NAPTIP described the convictions as a development in its efforts to combat human trafficking and child exploitation.
The agency did not disclose the current welfare arrangements for the child.
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