A 47-year-old retired matron from Akwa Ibom State has bagged a 10-year imprisonment without option of fine for child trafficking.
Gertrude Akpan was said to have bought an abducted six-year-old boy who was in the custody of his grandmother from one Ubong Ekwere for N50,000 on May 12, 2018.
Prosecutors told the court that Akpan, a mother of three later sold the child to one Kate Ogbonna in Owerri for N200,000 in Imo State.
Delivering judgment in the case on Wednesday, August 25, Justice Okon Okon of Akwa Ibom State High Court in Uyo found Akpan guilty of the unlawful removal and transfer of the boy from Akwa Ibom to Imo state and jailed her without an option of a fine.
“Apart from the confession of the convict, the evidence of the prosecution witness that she assisted the police in the recovery of the child victim from the buyer in Owerri, remained unchallenged and therefore accepted.
”It is sadistic that Gertrude (Akpan), a mother of children, indulged in selling the children of others, thereby depriving the innocent children of the natural love, care and upbringing of their parents.
”Such an evil trade must be deprecated, forestalled and checkmated by every right thinking member of society,” the judge held.
