Mrs Abang, mother of three, residing at Chief Palace, Goram, Niger
State was arrested by officers of the National Agency for the
Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) in July 2015.
She
took her half sister from Akwa Ibom State to Niger State under the
pretext of sending her to school but engaged her in activities that were
exploitative, including sleeping in a Poultry facility at her
residence which is exploitative and hazardous to the child’s
psychological development. The child was also not enrolled in school as
promised.
When the suspect was arraigned on Tuesday, she pleaded guilty to the one
count charge but pleaded for leniency. Delivering his judgment Hon.
Justice .Y. Bogoro convicted Mrs Abang and sentenced her to 2 years
imprisonment She was sentenced under section 23(1) (b) of the
Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration
Act, 2015 which says:
"Any person who employs, requires, recruits, transports, harbours, receives or hires out a child to do any work that is exploitative, injurious or hazardous to the physical, social and psychological development of the child, commits an offence and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for a minimum term of 2 years but not exceeding 7 years without an option of fine".
In his reaction, the Acting Director-General of NAPTIP, Alhaji
Abdulrazak Dangiri applauded the Judge for the urgent attention given to
the case and appealed to the Judiciary to ensure speedy trial of human
trafficking cases.
Source: NAPTIP
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