A Kano State High Court has sentenced six individuals to various prison terms for abducting and trafficking children from Kano to Anambra State.
Justice Zuwaira Yusuf delivered the judgment on Monday, convicting the defendants of conspiracy, concealment, abetment, abduction, and trafficking of children under the age of ten.
The convicted persons are Mercy Paul, Ebere Ogbono, Emmanuel Igwe, Loise Duru, Monica Oracha, and Chinelo Ifedigwe.
Mercy Paul, identified as the wife of the main suspect in the child trafficking syndicate, was sentenced to 55 years in prison. Ebere Ogbono received 41 years, Emmanuel Igwe and Chinelo Ifedigwe were each handed 9 years, Loise Duru got 6 years, while Monica Oracha was sentenced to 5 years. All sentences are to run consecutively without the option of a fine.
The case involved the abduction of several children between November and December 2014, and again in 2019. The children were taken from their families in Kano and sold in Onitsha, Anambra State. Some of the victims were reportedly forcefully converted from Islam to Christianity.
Principal State Counsel Khadija Aliyu Umar, who prosecuted the case for the Kano State Ministry of Justice, said the judgment offered closure for the affected families and reinforced the law against child trafficking.
“This judgment is about justice for the victims—children whose identities were changed, whose lives were torn apart, and whose parents suffered for years,” she told journalists after the judgment.
She added, “We prosecuted this case to give a voice to children who were silenced. No one should hide behind religion or ethnicity to commit crimes.”
Child trafficking remains a widespread problem in Nigeria. The U.S. State Department describes Nigeria as a source, transit, and destination country for human trafficking.
According to the 2018 Global Slavery Index, Nigeria ranks 32nd globally in the number of modern-day slavery cases, with over 1.3 million people estimated to be affected.
The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has also identified Nigeria as having the highest number of trafficked children in West Africa. The country remains on the Tier 2 watchlist.
