Three women were condemned to death by hanging in Akwa Ibom for kidnapping and selling infants.
On Friday, June 2, Justice Gabriel Ette of the Akwa Ibom State High Court in Uyo condemned three women to death for specialising in the kidnapping and trafficking of children in the state.
Enobong Nsikak Sunday (38), Gertrude Thompson Akpan (48), and Mary Okon James (49) were found guilty of conspiracy and kidnapping, both of which are punishable by death under Section 1 of the Akwa Ibom State Internal Security and Enforcement Law, 2009.
Sunday, a mother of two from Atiamkpat in Nsit Ubium Local Government Area, met her demise in her most recent enterprise, the kidnapping of a two-year-old daughter she saw at a vigil in Ifa Atai, Uyo, “looking poor and hungry.” She claimed she followed the mother and child to their home in Ifa Atai and pretended to take the youngster to a hospital for treatment. While they were driving, she said she stopped and gave the child’s mother N5,000 to buy groceries at the adjacent Transformer Junction Market on Abak Road in Uyo, but the woman declined. She stated she returned to the woman’s residence in Ifa Atai and successfully snatched the youngster.
Gertrude, a native of Ikot Eyo in Nsit Ubium, said she made N500,000 per child she stole and N200,000 for those delivered to her for sale. The last business that landed her in prison was the kidnapping of two children, aged two and ten months, on December 16, 2018 at Abak Road, Uyo, after convincing their mother that the wife of the immediate past Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Dr. Martha Udom Emmanuel, was empowering the poor and that she would take her to the First Lady for assistance.
Mary Okon James, a native of Obotim in Nsit Ibom, was also convicted of purchasing one of the children for N200,000 and selling it for N500,000 in Aba.
According to Justice Ette, the confessional testimonies of the accused defendants connect them and convincingly prove that they form a sophisticated syndicate for their evil activity.
“For a woman to go to that extent means she has sealed her conscience with a hot iron, becoming a threat to civilised society because every child is her potential victim.” You have disqualified yourself from remaining free in organised society because every youngster is a potential victim of your actions.
It is your assertion, Mary Okon Bassey, a native of Obotim village in Nsit Ibom Local Government, that you began the business of kidnapping and selling other people’s children in January 2017. You also claimed to have sold two female youngsters in Aba before being apprehended by nemesis. You did this with no regard for the fate of your innocent victims or the arrow you sent to pierce the hearts of their helpless parents. You did this so that you may live large and comfortably.
How did you feel when you snatched two children from the same mother and sold them for filthy lucre? You had given your innocent victims nightmares, yet providence smiled on her and her children were rescued. You are a blight on society and should never be allowed to walk the world as a free woman again. You chose to tread the path of crime in your life, and today you will enjoy the benefits. Those who murder sleep have no right to dream. I find you guilty, and the sentence of this Court is that you be hanged on your neck till you die, with the Lord having pity on your soul.”
