Human Trafficking: Two Women Bag Jail Terms In Benin
- NAPTIP hails Court judgment as deterrent for other traffickers
BY ONYEKACHUKWU IBEZIM – A Benin High Court in Edo State has sentenced two women to various jail terms for their involvement in human trafficking offences.
Sentenced by the Court presided over by Justice Geraldine Imadegbelo, are the duo of 29 years old Sandra Obasuyi and Evelyn Edoleyi, who is 28 years old.
The two convicts were first arraigned on 29th March 2016 by the National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Person (NAPTIP) and accused of trafficking two teenagers aged 15 and 18 while their third victim was aged 20 at that time.
In Charge No. B/6C/2016, Sandra Obasuyi was found guilty on seven count charges and accordingly sentenced to 49 years while the second accused Evelyn Edoleyi bagged three years each on the three count charges for a total of nine years imprisonment.
However, the sentences will run concurrently as the first accused, Obasuyi, convicted on seven count charges which carries seven years each will spend seven years in jail while Edoleyi, the second accused is to spend three years in prison.
In his reaction, the Benin Zonal Commander of NAPTIP, Mr Aganran Ganiu Alao hailed the conviction as victory over criminal elements roaming the society.
He said the anti-human trafficking Agency’s diligent prosecution of the case for about eight years would no doubt send clear signals to human traffickers in Edo state and beyond that they have no hiding place.
Alao further reiterated NAPTIP’s resolve to checkmate the illicit activities of heartless human traffickers who continue to arrange and package unsuspecting little girls for prostitution across the zone.
