• High Court jails man 12 years for sexually abusing 2 boys
From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
After nine years of legal tussle, the Supreme Court has affirmed the conviction of a human trafficker, Martina Opara, who was sentence to 14 years imprisonment for same offence.
Opara’s journey to prison begun in 2008 when she was arrested by operatives of National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) and arraigned in court on a nine-count charge of procurement and movement of three girls as well as using and offering girls for prostitution.
The convict was also charged for deceitful inducement of girls to go from Calabar to Sagamu, and confinement and detention of girls for prostitution.
The said offences, according to the prosecution, were contrary to sections 15(a) and 19(a, b and c) of the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Law Enforcement and Administration Act, 2003 (as amended in 2005).
Justice R.N. Ofili Ajumogobia of the Abeokuta Division of the Federal High Court had, on April 19, 2012, found Opera guilty of the charges and sentenced her to 14 years imprisonment with hard labour.
Not satisfied with the judgement, Opara approached the Court of Appeal, Ibadan Division, which, in 2014, in a unanimous decision, dismissed the appeal for lacking merit.
Still not satisfied with the Appeal Court judgement, she went to the Supreme Court.
In its unanimous verdict, delivered by Justice Mary Odili, the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal and affirmed the decisions of the lower courts.
Reacting to the Supreme Court ruling, Acting Director-General of NAPTIP, Mr. Abdulrazak Dangiri, expressed delight that the matter has finally come to an end, with the hope that the judgement would serve as a deterrent to human traffickers, as the agency was determined to follow all cases to a logical conclusion.
In another development, a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), has sentenced a 48-year-old man to 12 years imprisonment for sexually abusing two boys.
Justice M.M. Kolo jailed the convict, Shehu Abubakar, after he pleaded guilty to the two-count charge preferred against by him NAPTIP.
The offences were covered under the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Act, 2015.
The plea of the convict followed overwhelming evidence produced against him by the legal team of the NAPTIP. The sentence is to run concurrently.
The convict, a resident of Gwagwalada, Gwagwalada Local Government Council of the FCT, was arrested by operatives of NAPTIP following a tip-off by some concerned residents, who suspected the unholy relationship between him and the two boys.
Abubakar harboured the boys, aged between 14 and 15, in his apartment and in the process had carnal knowledge of them continuously through their anus, the court was told.
The Acting Director-General of NAPTIP expressed satisfaction with the outcome of the case, while vowing that the agency would not relemt in its efforts in dealing with issues of violence against vulnerable persons in Abuja.