Woman sentenced 17-yrs for selling newborn babies in Calabar

Ms Gift Effiong sentenced to 17 years imprisonment for child trafficking.

The Federal High Court sitting in Calabar, on Wednesday, sentenced a 28-year-old woman, Ms Gift Effiong, to 17 years imprisonment for human trafficking and sale of two newborn babies for N1.3 million.

The conviction was secured by the Cross River Command of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) in a suit Number FHC/CA/295C/2025, between the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Gift Effiong.

Effiong was first arraigned on Nov. 26, 2025, on a five-count charge bordering on human trafficking and sale of babies, contrary to Sections 21, 27 and 13(2)(b) of the Trafficking in Persons Act, pleaded guilty to all five counts.

Delivering judgment on the case, Justice Rosemary Oghoghorie, directed NAPTIP operatives to make efforts to rescue the trafficked babies.

Oghoghorie sentenced the defendant to five years imprisonment on count one.

Continuing, she said, “The defendant is further sentenced to two and a half years imprisonment on count two; two years imprisonment and a fine of N250,000 on count three.

“On count four and five, the defendant is sentenced to two and a half years imprisonment and five years imprisonment in addition to a fine of N2 million respectively.”

She ordered that the sentences run concurrently, bringing the total term to 17 years imprisonment.

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