Mr
Ifeanyi Kelvin Okorogu has been sentenced to three years imprisonment for
trafficking a 16-year-old girl and attempting to sell her baby for N150, 000.
According to Head, Press and Public Relations, the
National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons
(NAPTIP), Mr Josiah
Emerole, Okorogu was sentenced by a Federal High Court sitting in Calabar, the
Cross River State capital.
Emerole
said: “Okorogu was arraigned by NAPTIP on a two count charge under the
Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act, 2015. The
man and his accomplice were arrested on December 1, 2017 at the Margret Ekpo
International Airport, Calabar by men of the Nigeria Immigration Service and
transferred to the Uyo Zonal Command of NAPTIP for further investigations and
prosecution.
“He
was charged under Sections 13 and 29 of the Trafficking Prohibition Act. He
harboured a 16-year-old girl and exploited her using her position of
vulnerability. He further attempted to sell the victim’s baby at the sum of
N150,000 before he was arrested at the Airport.”
Delivering
Judgement on the case on Friday, Hon Justice Inyang Ekwo found Okorogu guilty
of the offence and sentenced him on the two counts charge.
He
was sentenced to two years imprisonment on count one and two years on count two.
The sentences will run concurrently. The sentence is however, without an option
of fine.
Reacting
to this conviction, the Director-General of NAPTIP, Dame Julie Okah-Donli
commended the Honourable Justice for the courage in handling the case. She
however, called on traffickers to look for better things to engage in as the
Agency will not spare anyone caught in the act of human trafficking.
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