Get Guardian on GoogleA 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 N800,000.
The convicts, Emmanuel Okechukwu Ogbodo, 28, and Peace Ufeabuchi Nnamonu, 22, were found guilty of conspiracy and attempting to sell their son, Godstime Ogbodo, for the purpose of exploitation.
The attempted transaction came to light after a prospective buyer, who had been approached by the couple, reported the matter to the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Cross River State Command.
The report prompted the agency’s intervention, leading to the foiling of the attempted sale and the arrest of the couple.
The duo were arraigned before the Federal High Court, Calabar Judicial Division, on November 3, 2026, on a two-count charge of conspiracy and attempted sale of a child, contrary to Sections 27 and 29 of the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act, 2015.
They pleaded guilty to the charges, which were filed on October 12, 2026.
Delivering judgment, Justice Rosemary Dugbo Oghoghorie convicted both defendants on the two counts.
The court sentenced each of them to five years’ imprisonment on the first count and two and a half years on the second count, with the sentences to run concurrently.
The judge also ordered that the sentences should take effect from the dates of their arrest.
NAPTIP’s Cross River State Command secured the convictions as part of efforts to tackle human trafficking and child exploitation in the state.
