Man jailed five years for
selling child for N10m on november 24, 2013 at 5:03
am in news By Wole Mosadomi A Niger State magistrate court
sitting in Minna, the state
capital, has sentenced one Isah
Aliyu to five years
imprisonment for intending to
sell his 9-year-old child for N10m. The 30-year-old man attributed
his action to poverty. The incident occurred on
November 15 when the buyer,
one Mallam Magaji, agreed to
buy the child for N7 million.
But the buyer promised to pay
half of the money and balance at a later date. The father of
the child was said to have
refused because of his
desperation to collect the N7
million at once. After the negotiation, the
father agreed to the half
payment but, instead of
bringing the money, the buyer
headed for the police station to
report the deal. *Court The police then followed
Magaji to the meeting place
and arrested Aliyu who was
still waiting for the money so
that he could hand over his son.
Aliyu was charged to court under the clause prohibiting
selling of child in the Niger
State Child’s Right Act. Aliyu pleaded guilty and was
summarily sentenced to five
years imprisonment by Chief
Magistrate Hassan Mohammed. When asked why he intended
to sell his son, the convict said,
“The poverty in the country is
biting and things are difficult
for me and my family. I felt
since the boy was under my custody and he is my son, I
could sell him and use the
money to cater for the rest of
the family.” The Chief Magistrate described
his reason as inhuman, adding
that poverty was not a strong
reason for the father to sell his
son. He sentenced Aliyu to five
years imprisonment without
option of fine.
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