A Federal High Court sitting in Calabar, Cross River State, has sentenced a man and his lover to five years’ imprisonment each for attempting to sell their one-year-old son for N800,000.
The convicts, identified as 28-year-old Emmanuel Ogbodo and 22-year-old Peace Nnamonu, were found guilty of conspiracy and attempted sale of their child for the purpose of exploitation.
The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, Cross River State Command, disclosed their conviction in a statement announcing the judgment on Thursday.
According to the agency, the attempted sale was uncovered after the prospective buyer reported the transaction to its Cross River command, prompting an intervention that prevented the child from being sold and led to the arrest of the couple.
NAPTIP said the defendants pleaded guilty to the two-count charge filed against them on October 12, 2026, before they were arraigned on November 3, 2026.
Delivering judgment on November 11, 2026, Justice Rosemary Dugbo Oghoghorie sentenced each defendant to five years’ imprisonment on the first count and two-and-a-half years on the second count.
The court, however, ordered that the sentences run concurrently, meaning that each convict would serve a total of five years in prison.
The agency said the sentences would take effect from the respective dates of their arrest.
The convicts were prosecuted under Sections 27 and 29 of the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act, 2015, which criminalises conspiracy and trafficking-related offences.