By Ighomuaye Lucky. O
In bid to put an end to human trafficking of any kind, the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Cross River State Command, has secured two major laudable convictions against a couple, Esther Ini Udo and Eyo Stephen Udo.
Newstracktoday quoted Daily Sun to have reported that the couple was charged with a four-count charge bordering on the buying and selling of 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 and Esther Ini Udo and Eyo Stephen Udo.
The court heard that the first convict, Esther Ini Udo, sold her newborn baby to one Oluchi Judith, now at large, for N300,000.
The two convicts also bought a one-year-old baby boy for N150,000 from Blessing and Uduak (both convicts) and resold the baby to Oluchi Judith for N400,000.
The court berated 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 N2 million on counts 1, 2 and 3.
The sentence will run concurrently, with effect from April 1, 2026, the date of judgment, while the second convict, 34-year-old Eyo Stephen Udo, will also serve a 15-year jail term with a N2 million fine.
The court ordered that NAPTIP arrest Oluchi Judith and bring her before the court for prosecution in view of her involvement in several human trafficking cases.
