Man Sentence 6 yrs for selling baby for N60,000

Abia State Chief Magistrate’s Court, presided over by Mrs. E.K.O. Umah, has sentenced one Chigoziem Nwankwo to six years imprisonment for selling a four-year-old baby girl. The court also sentenced him to another three months imprisonment for stealing mobile handsets valued at N14,000.

Chigoziem was alleged to have sold four-year-old Miss Rejoice Ibe, stolen from a couple.
He was said to have sold the baby for N60,000 to an accomplice , Bashiru, said to be at large.
Delivering judgment, Mrs. Umah said, “having considered the nature of the offences committed by the accused person and investigations conducted by the prosecuting officer as well as the accused person admitting to the truth of the matter, the jail terms of six years imprisonment becomes imperative.”

Chigoziem, said to be a wheel-barrow pusher at Gariki in Enugu, Enugu State, was alleged to have conspired with one Mr. Bashiru and stole a Nokia GSM handset valued at N8,000 and Samsung handset valued at N6, 000, property of Mr. and Mrs. Sunday Ibe. During his arrest, Chigoziem was said to be violent and  assaulted  the couple allegedly with a kitchen knife and inflicted injuries on Mrs. Ibe.

However, the Magistrate said the prison terms are to run concurrently. Meanwhile, one Mr. Ndubuisi Nnamachi, 65, was remanded at the Federal Prisons, Afara Umuahia, for allegedly killing one Mr. Nweke David by setting him on fire in conspiracy with Mr. Chisom Nkuche and Okechukwu David.

This incident was said to have happened on January 21, 2012, at Akirika Ukwu in Ukwa West Local Government Area of the state.

After listening to the charges, Magistrate  E.C.N. Kalu said the charge  fell outside the jurisdiction of his court and ordered that the matter be transferred to a high court, while the accused persons were remanded in prisons custody.