By Ike Uchechukwu, CALABAR
A Federal High Court sitting in Calabar has sentenced three men to prison for abducting and trafficking a two-year-old boy from Cross River State, in a bid to take him to Benue State.
The convicts, Felix Iorlumun, 18; Silas Shie, 19; and Samuel Moses, 27, were found guilty on Wednesday of conspiracy and transporting the child by means of abduction for the purpose of exploitation.
The offences contravene Sections 13 and 27 of the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition), Enforcement and Administration Act (TIPPEA) 2015.
Delivering judgment on October 7, 2026, Justice Rosemary Oghoghorie convicted the trio on all counts in Charge No. FHC/CA/160C/2026, titled Federal Republic of Nigeria v. Felix Iorlumun and two others.
The case was prosecuted by the Cross River State Command of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP).
The victim, Wisdom Emmanuel Achua, was abducted from Bunyia Community in Boki Local Council and taken to Mbube Community in Ogoja Local Area of the state.
The convicts were intercepted in Mbube by community vigilantes, who alerted NAPTIP.
The agency then took over the investigation and prosecution.
The three men pleaded guilty to the charges when they were arraigned in October.
Iorlumun and Shie were each sentenced to two years’ imprisonment and fined N250,000 on each of counts one and two, with the sentences to run concurrently.
Moses was likewise sentenced to two years’ imprisonment and fined N250,000 on each of counts one and two, to run concurrently.
On count three, he was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment and fined N1 million, which will also run concurrently.
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