Pascal Arogorn Ibe
The High Court sitting in Uyo, Akwa Ibom state has sentenced a 43-year-old Swedish-Nigerian woman, Stephany Isaksson, to four years in prison for child trafficking.
The convict, with charge number FHC/UY/108C/2019, was jailed on two-count charges of receiving an 18-month-old baby by means of fraud, from one Uduak, now at large, for the purpose of exploitation.
According to section 13(2)(b) of trafficking in persons (prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act 2015, Isaksson was convicted for obtaining the baby knowing that the baby will be subject to exploitation contrary to section 21 of the Trafficking in persons (prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act.
Isaksson who hails from Mbiaya Uruan in Akwa Ibom state, but married to a Swedish was said to have been arrested by the Swedish Embassy when she went to the Embassy to obtain the necessary papers for the child.
Upon her arrest, she was handed over to the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) in 2018 for prosecution.
In his judgment, the presiding judge, Justice Fatun Riman, sentenced the convict to a term of 2 years or pay a fine of N250,000 for count one.
For count two, the convict was sentenced to a term of 2 years or pay a fine of N250,000, noting that the sentence will run concurrently while the fine is accumulative.
admin