Two women have been sentenced to five years imprisonment by the Federal High Court in Calabar, Cross River. The court found 22-year-old Uduak Uwem Sunday and 18-year-old Blessing Etim Asuquo guilty of selling a one-year-old boy who had been stolen from his mother.
The arrests of Uduak Uwem Sunday and Blessing Etim Asuquo were made on April 18, 2023, by officials from the National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons and Other Related Matters (NAPTIP), according to The Guardian Newspaper.
Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu delivered the verdict at the Federal High Court, 1, in Calabar on Thursday, June 8, 2023. The culprits were sentenced to five years imprisonment each and fined N2 million.
A source from the agency, who requested anonymity, revealed that the child, Christian Samuel, had been stolen and sold to a buyer at Technical Round About along Muritala Muhammed Highway in Calabar for N150,000.
The women, however, claimed ignorance regarding the whereabouts of the baby or the identity of the buyers.
“The child is a baby boy, Christian Samuel. The suspects refused to mention who they sold the child to and where the child was taken to. They only revealed that they took the child to Technical Round About, along the highway where they did the transaction, and got the buyer who bought the child for N150,000. I don’t know whether they took an oath that they will not reveal themselves because all efforts, all pampering while they were in custody, they still didn’t reveal the information.
“It was so pathetic watching the mother of the child crying yesterday at the court,” the source stated.
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