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From Aniekan Aniekan, Calabar
The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Cross River State Command, has secured two convictions against a couple, Esther Ini Udo and Eyo Stephen Udo.
The couple was charged with a 4-count charge bordering on buying and selling babies for exploitation, contrary to Sections 13(4)(a)(c) & (e), 21 and 27 of the TIPPEA Act, 2015.
The suit with No: FHC/CA/19C/2025 was between the Federal Government of Nigeria vs Esther Ini Udo and Eyo Stephen Udo.
The court heard that the 1st convict, Esther Ini Udo, sold her newborn baby to one Oluchi Judith, now at large, for N300,000.
The two convicts also bought a year-old baby boy for N150,000 from Blessing and Uduak (both convicts) and resold the baby to Oluchi Judith for N400,000.
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The court frowned at the duo for selling their babies to a trafficker for monetary reward.
The convicts had pleaded not guilty to the charges, but the court found them guilty on all counts.
Presiding judge, Justice I. Ojukwu of the Federal High Court, Calabar, sentenced the first convict, 32-year-old Esther Ini Udo, to 15 years’ imprisonment and a fine of N2m on counts 1, 2, and 3.
The sentence will run concurrently, with effect from April 1, 2026, the date of judgment, whereas the second convict, 34-year-old Eyo Stephen Udo, will also serve a 15-year jail term with a N2m fine.
The court ordered that NAPTIP should arrest Oluchi Judith and bring her for prosecution in view of her involvement in several human trafficking cases.
