Nigerian Man Imprisoned in Ghana for Trafficking Younger Sister, Others

A Ghanaian court has sentenced 29-year-old Chukwudi Nwachukwu, a Nigerian national, to ten years in prison for trafficking his younger sister and nine other girls from Nigeria to Ghana for prostitution. The victims, aged between 15 and 18 years, were reportedly lured from Nigeria with promises of decent jobs in a restaurant but were forced into sex work upon their arrival in Ghana. One of the victims was Nwachukwu’s own sister.

Prosecutor Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Isaac Babayi informed the court that the case began when Chief Calistus Eloziepuwa, a member of the Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation (NIDO) in Ghana, reported the situation to the authorities and rescued the victims.

On June 7, 2024, the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit (AHTU) at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Headquarters received a report from the Nmai Dzorn Police Station, indicating that Chief Eloziepuwa and his team had apprehended Nwachukwu and freed the victims. Investigations revealed that Nwachukwu financed the victims’ transportation from Nigeria to Ghana and collaborated with unidentified accomplices who recruited them from various villages in Nigeria.

The court also heard that upon their arrival, Nwachukwu kept the girls at his residence in Liberia Camp near Kasoa, where he allegedly forced them to take oaths before a shrine after cutting their pubic hair. He threatened the victims, claiming they would suffer incurable skin diseases if they disobeyed him or attempted to escape.

Nwachukwu reportedly provided the girls with waist beads from the shrine and later transported them to Odorkor, a suburb of Accra, where they were coerced into prostitution and required to pay him GH₵300 daily from their earnings. The Ghana Police Force discovered that Nwachukwu kept detailed records of their daily income in an exercise book.

The Achimota Circuit Court, presided over by Judge Akosua Anokyewaa Adjepong, found Nwachukwu guilty on two counts of human trafficking.

Judge Adjepong stated that although Nwachukwu was a first-time offender who pleaded for leniency, the seriousness and increasing prevalence of human trafficking warranted a deterrent sentence. She subsequently sentenced him to ten years in prison on each count, with the sentences to run concurrently. The judge also ordered Nwachukwu to pay GH₵15,000 in compensation to each of the ten victims.