Paul Osuyi, Asaba
The Federal High Court, Asaba, Delta State on Tuesday sentenced a 38-year old man, Samuel Ufor Papa, to 12 years imprisonment for human trafficking.
The convict was found guilty of trafficking one Miss Cynthia Ude, 20, to a neighboring West African country, Mali.
The presiding judge, Justice Toyin Adegoke who handed down the sentence, held that the prosecution proved its case beyond all reasonable doubt on count 1 which borders on facilitating the travelling out from Nigeria of the female victim.
She also found the convict guilty of count 2 bordering on facilitating foreign travel which promotes prostitution.
“From the totality of evidence adduced by the prosecution, I hold the view that the convict is guilty of counts 1 and 2 and is hereby sentenced to five years for count 1 and seven years imprisonment for 2. Both sentences are to run concurrently,” she held.
Defence counsel, O.S Odenigbo, legal aid council had pleaded for leniency, adding that the convict was a first offender.
He said the convict had not seen his pregnant wife who had given birth since 2017 when he was incarcerated, adding that the convict’s family are exposed to hardship and difficulty.
The convict who was on bail from the Benin zonal office of National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) for a previous offence, broke down in tears following his conviction.

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