Court jails couple for five years in Edo over human trafficking

The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) says it has secured the conviction of Adesuwa Otabor and Otabor Idahosa, a couple who trafficked a victim to Dubai for prostitution.

NAN reports that Ganiu Aganran, coordinator of the Benin zonal command of NAPTIP, said the husband and wife, from Edo state, were sentenced to five years imprisonment.

Aganran said the high court, criminal division 2 in Benin, Edo state capital, found the convicts guilty of conspiracy to commit human trafficking.

He said the offence contradicts section 27 of the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act, 2015.

The NAPTIP coordinator said the feat is part of the agenda of the agency’s director-general to arrest, prosecute, and convict high-profile human traffickers across the country.

In January, the agency secured the conviction of a 55-year-old woman who trafficked young girls to Spain for prostitution.

The convict, identified as Patricia Igbinovia, was sentenced to seven years imprisonment by a federal high court in Lagos.