A 47-year-old retired matron, Gertrude Akpan, has sentenced  to 10 years imprisonment for trafficking children by Justice Okon Okon of an Akwa Ibom State High Court sitting in Uyo.

Prosecutors told the court that one Ubong Ekwere on May 12, 2018, abducted the six-year-old boy in the custody of his grandmother and sold him to Akpan for N50,000. Akpan who is a mother of three then 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 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

Source: https://aderonkebamidele.com/retired-matron-bags-10-year-jail-term-for-buying-baby-boy-for-n50000-and-selling-him-for-n200000/

Kk