Magistrate reserves ruling in Rivers child trafficking trial

Ikili Oghu, Port Harcourt

The trial of a Port-Harcourt based pastor and two other suspects accused of trafficking a day -old -baby has stalled following the refusal of the magistrate handling the case to deliver her judgement, even though counsels to the parties in the trial made their final submissions in March.

Senior Magistrate Helen Hardy of the Port Harcourt Magisterial District on Friday, reserved judgment on the matter and adjourned to May 15 because defense counsels made unsatisfactory submissions before the court.

Senior Pastor George Brown of the Divine Encounter Ministries, Rumuolumeni in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers state and two others are accused of stealing the day -old -baby and selling her for N150, 000.

Pastor Brown is alleged to have conspired with a nurse, Blessing Egbuine, now late and one Mrs. Tina Tekebe on December 15, 2011 to steal and subsequently, sell the baby girl belonging to Mrs. Grace Sunday from Yeghe in Yala Local Government Area of Cross Rivers state.

The incident took place at Okocha Road in Nkpor Community in Rumuolumeni and for the past eight years the matter has been on trial.

When the matter came up yesterday expectedly for ruling, the court clerk announced that the parties should take a new date as the judgement set for delivery cannot hold because the defense counsel to Pastor Brown failed to file the mandatory papers, citing the authorities in his defense while the authorities cited by the defense counsel to Mrs. Tekebe, the alleged buyer of the one- day -old baby was scanty.

A representative of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Mrs. Comfort Udofia from Obio/Akpor branch of the agency was present in the court, but declined comments on the matter saying, that it was not yet ripe for the agency to comment on the matter.

Prosecuting counsel, Moses Oha, while being interviewed by journalists at the court premises, said that “it is not known in law that the magistrate must wait to get copies of authorities from the defense counsel to the second accused.

It is not law that this must happen, but she ought to have delivered the judgement irrespective of the actions and inactions of the second defense counsel who refused to file copies of authorities cited in his defense.”