Court jails Swedish-Nigerian woman four years for child trafficking

Harris Emmanuel

A Federal High Court, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, has sentenced a Swedish-Nigerian woman, Stephany Isaksson, 43, to four years imprisonment for child trafficking.

Isaksson was charged on two counts of fraudulently receiving a one-year-and six months old baby from one Uduak, who is at large for purpose of exploitation contrary to section 13(2) (b) of Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act 2015 and for obtaining the possession of the baby knowing that the baby will be subjected to exploitation contrary to section 21 of the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition)  Enforcement and Administration Act.

The convict, who hails from Mfiayon Uruan in Akwa Ibom State, was said to have been arrested by  the Swedish Embassy, when she went to the Embassy to obtain necessary papers for the child; she was handed over to National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) in 2018 for prosecution.

Delivering the judgement with charge number, FHC/UY/108C/2019, the presiding judge, Justice Fatun Riman for count one, sentenced the convict to a term of two years or pay a fine of N250,000 and on count two, she was  sentenced  to a term of two years or pay a fine of N250,000, noting that the sentence will run concurrently while the fine is accumulative.

Besides, Justice Riman also delivered judgement on the suit number FHC/ UY/142/2020 involving Evangelist Enobong Bassey Okon vs Iniobong Okon and eight others.

The case, which involved the enforcement of fundamental human rights was in favour of the applicant, Evangelist Enobong Bassey Okon, who was said to have gone to enforce an earlier judgment by the Appeal Court.

The respondent, Iniobong Okon and eight others were said to have infringed on the fundamental human rights of the applicant by arresting him, accused him of being a thief, saying that the bailiff was fake.

When the case was brought to the Federal High Court, judgement was delivered in favour of the applicant with N20,000,000 awarded to him and N50,000 for the cost of litigation.

In another judgement, with suit number FHC/UY/42/2008 involving John Bull and 11 others vs Philip Eyo Eyoren and 10 others, the plaintiff instituted seeking order compelling the 1st to 11th defendants to render account on N120,000,000.

The plaintiffs, John Bull and 11 others were found to have defaulted in discharging the onus of the case by the court and the case was dismissed with the cost of N100,000 in favour of the defendants for lack of merit.

In the same vein, there was also a ruling on admissibility of private document as a public document in a suit number FHC/UY/47C/2014 involving the Commissioner of Police vs Iniubong Emaeyen Ntukidem.

The accused person is said to have sought to render a private as public document, objection was upheld by the court and document was finally marked as rejected.