Two jailed for human trafficking

A Federal High Court sitting in Sokoto has sentenced two persons to one year imprisonment each for human trafficking. The convicts, Abubakar Umar, an indigene of Sokoto State, and Rukkayya Isa, from Zugu in Republic of Benin, were arraigned by the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) for assisting and facilitating […]

A Federal High Court sitting in Sokoto has sentenced two persons to one year imprisonment each for human trafficking.

The convicts, Abubakar Umar, an indigene of Sokoto State, and Rukkayya Isa, from Zugu in Republic of Benin, were arraigned by the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) for assisting and facilitating the activities of persons engaged in human trafficking from Republic of Benin to Sokoto. The action contravenes Section 13 (4)(C) of the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act, 2015.

The presiding judge, Justice Eilean Muhammed Aikawa, while delivering his judgment said, having listened to the three witnesses presented by the prosecution and two witnesses brought forward by the defendants, as well as other evidences presented in the course of the trial, he found both defendants guilty of the charge and subsequently sentenced each of them to one year’s imprisonment and N100,000 fine, effective immediately.

Reacting to the news of the conviction, the Director-General of NAPTIP expressed her satisfaction with the judgment, which she said brought the total convictions secured by the agency since inception to 343.

She reiterated the agency’s resolve to stamp out human trafficking in Nigeria.

She also stressed the need for members of the public to know that it is an offence to assist or be involved in any way whatsoever in human trafficking-related activities, and warned detractors to desist from the acts.