The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons has secured the conviction of a 38-year-old woman, Mbika Edem, also known as Ikwo, for conspiracy and the sale of a newborn in Cross River State.
The agency’s National Public Relations Officer, Vincent Adekoye, disclosed this in an interview, noting that the conviction was handed down on Thursday by the Federal High Court sitting in Calabar.
According to him, the case, marked FHC/CA/12C/2025, revealed that Edem, alongside a nurse identified simply as Blessing who is currently at large, orchestrated the premature delivery of a pregnant woman, Mercy Ekanem, through deception.
The agency said the duo allegedly tricked the victim into undergoing an emergency delivery before her due date, after which the newborn was taken and sold to an unidentified buyer.
“The victim was abandoned by the roadside with only N200,000 after the procedure,” the agency stated.
Edem had pleaded not guilty to the four-count charge filed against her on March 4, 2025, and was arraigned on March 19, 2025, under relevant provisions of the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act, 2015.
Delivering judgment, Justice Rosemary Oghoghorie found the defendant guilty on all counts.
She was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment on the first count with an option of a N2m fine, while counts two, three, and four each attracted two-year jail terms without an option of fine.
The sentences are to run concurrently from the date of her arrest.
The court also ordered the convict to pay N500,000 as compensation to the victim, while the N200,000 recovered from the illegal transaction was forfeited to the Federal Government.