Justice Yusuf Halilu of the FCT High Court, Maitama, on Wednesday convicted and sentenced a self-acclaimed pastor, Esther Oyinabo, to 15 years’ imprisonment for trafficking a four-day-old baby.

Also sentenced is Segun Oladele.

Ms Oyinabo and Mr Oladele were arraigned before the court by the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) on three counts bordering on conspiracy and trafficking in person.

Delivering judgment, Mr Halilu held that the prosecution had proven its case against the convicts beyond a reasonable doubt.

He held that the offence they committed was tantamount to slavery, a great crime against humanity.

The judge, therefore, convicted the defendants as charged by the prosecution.

Counsel for the defendants, Remigius Ani, urged the court to temper justice with mercy, saying they are first-time offenders.

“The first convict has an aged mother and is the sole breadwinner of his family,” he said, adding that the second convict was a widow with children to cater for.

The defence counsel, therefore, appealed to the count to impose fines on the convicts instead of sending them to a correctional facility to serve terms there.

While sentencing the convicts, the judge held that the law under which they were charged stipulates imprisonment and a fine for anyone convicted under it.

Mr Halilu, therefore, sentenced both convicts to five years’ imprisonment with a fine of N2 million each on count one.

On count two, the judge sentenced Mr Oladele to five years’ imprisonment with another N2 million fine, while Ms Oyinabo was sentenced to another five-year on count three with N2 million fine.

The sentences, according to the judge, will run concurrently.

Mr Halilu ordered convicts to serve their term at the Suleja Correctional Centre in Niger.

According to him, the sentence would serve as a deterrent to others engaging in human trafficking.

He added that for anyone wishing to adopt a child, there are many legal ways to do so.

Mr Oladele was alleged to have approached Ms Oyinabo to assist the mother of the baby from Taraba to pay for her caesarian section in the hospital.

NAPTIP said the second convict, Ms Oyinabo, paid N200,000 for the delivery and took the baby after delivery.

The baby was later given out to a woman from Enugu State.

(NAN)