By Raphael Ede
Enugu
A Federal High Court sitting in Enugu has convicted two persons, Ernest Obieze and Ferdinand Okechukwu, for procurement of an eight-year-old girl and having carnal knowledge of her.
They were each sentenced to five years in prison with an additional fine of N100,000 each, just as they are to serve additional three years in prison if they fail to pay the fine.
The convicted persons were arrested by operatives of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Enugu Zonal Command, following a tip-off and was subsequently charged to court on a seven-count charge.
Delivering judgment in the case, the Presiding Judge, Justice D. V Agishi, held that the prosecution had successfully proved a case of having unlawful carnal knowledge and procurement for unlawful carnal knowledge preferred against the two accused persons.
He consequently pronounced them guilty and subsequently sentenced them.
Commenting on the development, Director General of NAPTIP, Dame Julie Okah-Donli, commended the court for the landmark judgment stating that the convicts deserved the punishment.
“I commend the court for the judgment. I want to sound this as a warning to those evil-minded fellows who take delight in procuring our promising children for prostitution or any other unlawful activities that NAPTIP is gradually closing in on them,” she said.
Speaking further, she said, “We have intensified our surveillance efforts as well as other intelligence gathering mechanisms to ensure that our children are safe wherever they are in Nigeria and beyond.
“I also want to appeal to Nigerians to join hands with NAPTIP to expose these questionable people whose sole interest is to procure traffic and exploit our children thereby denying them the opportunity of becoming what they want to become.”
