‘Grossly Inadequate’: Human Rights Lawyer Faults 1-Year Jail in Child Trafficking Case
_By Secular Advocacy TV News Desk | May 1, 2026 |
Human Rights Lawyer James Ibor has decried a one-year sentence handed to a 55-year-old man convicted of child trafficking for sexual exploitation, saying the punishment falls short of the law and sends the wrong message.
Tetteokon Ntuen was convicted Wednesday for receiving and harboring a 15-year-old girl “through deception and abuse of her position of vulnerability for the purpose of sexual exploitation.”
The Federal High Court sentenced Ntuen to one year imprisonment or a fine of ₦250,000. The court also ordered him to pay ₦300,000 as compensation to the survivor, issue a written apology, and enter into an undertaking to be of good behaviour. He remains in custody until all conditions are met.
Reacting on his official Facebook handle, Ibor who is the Principal Counsel of Basic Rights Counsel Initiative wrote: “I am deeply dissatisfied with this outcome. A sentence of this nature appears grossly inadequate for such a grave offence.”
He added: “Most concerning is that the sentence is inconsistent with the clear and unambiguous provisions of Section 16(1) of the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act, which prescribes a minimum penalty of seven (7) years’ imprisonment and a fine of not less than One Million Naira.”
Ibor said he will be “urging NAPTIP and the Honourable Attorney General of Cross River State to review the judgment and consider filing an appeal.”
Section 16(1) of the Trafficking in Persons Act, 2015 states that any person who recruits, transports, transfers, harbours or receives another person by means of deception or abuse of power for sexual exploitation commits an offence and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term of not less than 7 years and to a fine of not less than ₦1,000,000.
The conviction was secured through coordinated efforts by UNICEF community case workers in Calabar; Dr. Godwin Eyake and his team at NAPTIP; Basic Rights Counsel Initiative; and Mr. Aniedi Effiong Ndak of the Office of the State Security Adviser (Internal Security), Cross River State.
NAPTIP has not commented on whether it will appeal the sentence as of press time.