The National Industrial Court sitting in Jos, Plateau State, has sentenced Prophetess Nwachukwu to two years’ imprisonment after finding her guilty of trafficking two children under the guise of adoption.
Justice Ibrahim Galadima, who presided over the Jos Judicial Division of the court, convicted the defendant for trafficking in persons contrary to Section 13(1) and (2)(a), (b) and (c) of the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act, 2015.
In addition to the prison term, the court imposed a fine of N250,000, with the one month she had already spent in custody to be deducted from her sentence.
Justice Galadima, during the Wenesday ruling, also ordered that her name and photograph be entered into the National Trafficking Offenders Register and directed that she be placed under correctional monitoring after completing her jail term.
According to the prosecution, which was brought by the People of Plateau State, the convict procured and trafficked two children through one Pastor Bernard after allegedly paying N550,000 for each child under the pretext of adoption.
The children were subsequently taken to Lagos before they were rescued by law enforcement authorities. Prophetess Nwachukwu, however, denied any involvement in child trafficking.
She told the court that she merely assisted a church member who wanted to adopt a child and insisted that she neither handled any money nor participated in an illegal transaction.She maintained that what transpired was a lawful adoption process.
Her counsel urged the court to dismiss the charge, arguing that the prosecution failed to prove the offence beyond reasonable doubt.
The defence further contended that there was no evidence of exploitation, force, deception or coercion, no documentary proof that money exchanged hands for the children, and that the Plateau State Ministry of Justice lacked the statutory authority to prosecute offences under the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act, 2015.
Responding, counsel for the prosecution, Joel Tahvan, argued that the defendant’s adoption claim was unsupported by any evidence of a lawful adoption.
He told the court that no parental consent, welfare investigation, adoption order or compliance with the Child Rights Law of Plateau State was presented.
He also urged the court to reject the defendant’s testimony, describing it as inconsistent with her earlier written and video confessional statements.
In his judgment, Justice Galadima held that the prosecution established the charge beyond reasonable doubt through documentary evidence, the defendant’s written and video confessional statements, as well as admissions she made during the trial.
The judge noted that although the defendant sought to portray the transaction as an adoption arrangement, she admitted facilitating the collection and transfer of the children without knowing their parents, their place of origin or obtaining any lawful adoption approval.
He held that the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act criminalises the recruitment, transfer, receipt, transportation, harbouring and procurement of children for unlawful purposes.
Consequently, he ruled that the defendant could not escape criminal liability simply by describing the transaction as an adoption when the surrounding circumstances clearly established an unlawful commercial transfer of children.
Justice Galadima further emphasised that adoption is a statutory process that requires welfare investigations, parental consent, court approval and compliance with the applicable law.
According to him, the absence of any lawful adoption order or statutory authorisation, coupled with the payment of money, the involvement of intermediaries and the movement of the children, demonstrated that the arrangement was not a lawful adoption but an act of child trafficking.