Gift Effiong, 28, exploited desperate mothers or manipulated vulnerable pregnancies to steal and sell two newborns for N1.3 million total, treating tiny humans as commodities.
The Cross River Command of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) built a watertight case, leading to her arraignment on November 26, 2025, in suit FHC/CA/295C/2025.
Effiong faced five counts of human trafficking and baby sales contrary to Sections 21, 27, and 13(2)(b) of the Trafficking in Persons Act.
She pleaded guilty to all charges.
Reports from Champion Newspapers detail how she facilitated the illegal transfers, profiting from families' pain in a region plagued by such syndicates — echoing recent NAPTIP rescues and army interventions in Cross River baby sales.
On Wednesday, February 18, 2026, Justice Rosemary Oghoghorie of the Federal High Court in Calabar sentenced Effiong to five years on count one; two and a half years on count two; two years imprisonment plus N250,000 fine on count three; two and a half years on count four; and five years plus N2 million fine on count five.
The judge ordered concurrent running, totaling 17 years. Justice Oghoghorie directed NAPTIP to urgently rescue the trafficked babies
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