Nigerian Man Bags Ten Years Imprisonment in Ghana For Trafficking Sister,Nine Others

A Ghanaian court has sentenced a 29-year-old Nigerian man, Chukwudi Nwachukwu, to 10 years in prison for trafficking his younger sister and nine other Nigerian girls into Ghana for prostitution.

According to reports, the victims — aged between 15 and 18 years — were deceived with promises of restaurant jobs in Ghana but were instead forced into sex work after their arrival. Shockingly, one of the trafficked girls was Nwachukwu’s own sister.

Prosecutor Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Isaac Babayi told the court that the case began when Chief Calistus Eloziepuwa, a member of the Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation (NIDO) in Ghana, alerted authorities and helped rescue the victims.

ASP Babayi explained that on June 7, 2024, the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit (AHTU) at the CID Headquarters received a report from the Nmai Dzorn Police Station. The report revealed that Chief Eloziepuwa and his team had apprehended Nwachukwu and freed the trafficked girls.

Investigations showed that Nwachukwu funded the victims’ transportation from Nigeria and collaborated with unidentified accomplices who recruited the girls from various villages across Nigeria.

Upon arrival in Ghana, Nwachukwu kept the victims in his home at Liberia Camp near Kasoa, where he reportedly forced them to swear oaths before a shrine. The ritual allegedly involved cutting their pubic hair, and Nwachukwu warned the girls they would suffer incurable skin diseases if they disobeyed or tried to flee.

He also gave them waist beads from the shrine as symbols of control before moving them to Odorkor, a suburb of Accra, where they were compelled to engage in prostitution. Each girl was made to pay him GH₵300 daily from her earnings. Police later discovered that Nwachukwu kept detailed financial records of their activities in an exercise book.

At the Achimota Circuit Court, Judge Akosua Anokyewaa Adjepong found Nwachukwu guilty on two counts of human trafficking. Though he pleaded for leniency as a first-time offender, the judge stressed that the severity and increasing frequency of human trafficking warranted a strong punitive measure.

Nwachukwu was therefore sentenced to 10 years imprisonment on each count, to run concurrently, and ordered to pay GH₵15,000 compensation to each of the 10 victims.

It will be recalled that The Guardian had reported last year that the Nigerian High Commission in Ghana took custody of 11 Nigerian girls rescued from a prostitution ring linked to Nwachukwu.

In a memo signed by Ambassador Adeoye Ifedayo, the Acting High Commissioner, the victims were identified as being from Imo and Plateau States. Adeoye stated:

“The Nigerian High Commission, Accra, has taken custody of the 11 trafficked Nigerian girls rescued on Thursday, June 6, at Winneba in Ghana’s Central Region. The victims, aged between 14 and 18, are currently being housed at the High Commission, 15 Circular Road, Cantonments, Accra.”