A Federal High Court sitting in Calabar, Cross River State, has sentenced three men to prison for abducting and trafficking a two-year-old boy with the intention of taking him to Benue State.
The convicts, identified as Felix Iorlumun, 18; Silas Shie, 19; and Samuel Moses, 27, were found guilty of conspiracy and transporting the child through abduction for exploitation.
Justice Rosemary Oghoghorie delivered the judgment on Wednesday, October 7, 2026, after finding the three men guilty of all the charges in Charge No. FHC/CA/160C/2026, filed by the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The offences were said to contravene Sections 13 and 27 of the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition), Enforcement and Administration Act, 2015.
The case was prosecuted by the Cross River State Command of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons.
The victim, identified as Wisdom Emmanuel Achua, was reportedly abducted from Bunyia Community in Boki Local Government Area and taken to Mbube Community in Ogoja Local Government Area of the state.
The three men were intercepted in Mbube by community vigilantes, who subsequently alerted NAPTIP.
Following the incident, the agency took over the investigation and prosecution of the case.
The convicts reportedly pleaded guilty to the charges when they were arraigned in October.
Iorlumun and Shie were each sentenced to two years in prison and fined N250,000 on each of the first and second counts, with the terms to run concurrently.
The details of the sentence imposed on Moses were not contained in the information provided.
