The Accra Circuit Court Four has sentenced a 36-year-old food vendor to seven years’ imprisonment with hard labour after finding her guilty of human trafficking and prostitution-related offences.
Gift Chinyere Aminu, popularly known as Joy, denied the charges but was convicted after a full trial.
According to the prosecution, Aminu, a Nigerian national, trafficked two women from Togo to Ghana and forced them into prostitution.
Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Issah Achiburi told the court that the case came to the attention of the Police after one of the victims contacted a Nigerian resident in Accra and alleged that she and another woman had been brought to Ghana and compelled to engage in prostitution.
The victims also alleged that they were subjected to severe beatings when they refused to engage in prostitution.
Investigations revealed that Aminu had received the two women in Togo from two other Nigerian women, identified as Jennifer and Blessing, who are currently at large.
She was said to have managed the victims and collected proceeds from their activities for onward transmission to the two women.
The prosecution said Aminu also took the victims to a shrine and made them swear an oath, threatening that they would run mad if they absconded with her money.
Following a Police operation in Togo, Aminu relocated to Ghana with the victims, where she allegedly continued forcing them into prostitution at Kwame Nkrumah Circle.
Investigations further revealed that she collected 300,000 Nigerian naira from one victim and 250,000 naira from the other.
The court, presided over by Madam Lawrencia Awura Abena Darkowaa Gyamfi, also ordered Aminu to compensate the victims.
