Nigerian, 32 sentenced to 15 years for human trafficking

A Nigerian woman, 32, has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for human trafficking. Promise Obianu Awayiaka will also compensate each of her victims GHS10,000. Her sentence was given by the Sogakope Circuit Court presided over by Mr Isaac Addo.

The court explained the rationale behind the 15-year sentence: “Looking at the seriousness of the offence committed, the number of victims involved, it ought to hand down a deterrent sentence to traffickers and ‘would be Traffickers'”.

Also, the court said, “The accused person ought to be kept away from society for a considerable period of time. This gruesome act is clearly a modern (form of) slavery, which must not be countenanced,” the Graphic reported.

According to the Prosecuting Assistant Superintendent of Immigration Yussif Misbawu, holding the brief of Superintendent of Immigration Bernard John Otoo, the accused recruited seven girls from Nigeria and transported them to Ghana. Promise, who has been convicted of human trafficking, according to the prosecution resided at Mafi-Kuamse in Sogakope in the Volta Region.

Her means of luring the women was to offer them jobs as salespersons in a supermarket in Kasoa. However, when the first seven women arrived in the country, they were sent to Kasoa and forced into prostitution. The victims were forced to have sex with multiple men on a daily basis with the proceeds going to Promise.

Security officers at Kasoa were notified of the ongoing, prompting Promise to move her victims to a guest house at Mafi-Kuamse where the acts continued. The first group of women were all aged between 22 and 25 years. A second group of three aged, 17, 20 and 23 were brought in from Nigeria to join the first group. They were forced to shave off their pubic hair and given to Promise for rituals which she used to threaten them so they would remain in her control.

The court directed the Ghana Immigration Service to ensure the victims received counselling before they are sent back to Nigeria.