ACCRA, Ghana (FN) — A Ghanaian court has sentenced a 29-year-old Nigerian man to 10 years in prison for trafficking his younger sister and nine other teenage girls from Nigeria to Ghana for forced prostitution, in a case that has drawn condemnation from rights groups and diaspora leaders.
Chukwudi Nwachukwu was convicted on two counts of human trafficking by the Achimota Circuit Court in Accra. Presiding Judge Akosua Anokyewaa Adjepong handed down a concurrent 10-year sentence and ordered Nwachukwu to pay 15,000 Ghana Cedis in compensation to each of the 10 victims.
Prosecutors said the victims, aged between 15 and 18, were lured from rural communities in Nigeria with promises of restaurant jobs. Upon arrival in Ghana, they were allegedly coerced into sex work and subjected to spiritual intimidation, including forced oaths before a shrine.
Assistant Superintendent of Police Isaac Babayi told the court that Nwachukwu kept the girls at his residence in Liberia Camp near Kasoa, where he reportedly cut their pubic hair and threatened them with incurable skin diseases if they attempted to escape.
The case came to light after Chief Calistus Eloziepuwa, a member of the Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation (NIDO) in Ghana, alerted authorities and led a rescue operation. On June 7, 2024, the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit at the CID Headquarters received a report from Nmai Dzorn Police Station confirming the arrest and rescue.
Investigators found that Nwachukwu had financed the victims’ transportation and collaborated with unidentified recruiters in Nigeria. He allegedly gave the girls waist beads from the shrine and later moved them to Odorkor, a suburb of Accra, where they were forced to pay him GH₵300 daily from their earnings.
Police recovered an exercise book from Nwachukwu’s residence containing detailed records of the girls’ daily income. Authorities say the documentation helped establish the extent of the exploitation and the financial control he exerted over the victims.
Judge Adjepong acknowledged Nwachukwu’s plea for leniency as a first-time offender but emphasized the gravity of the crime and the growing threat of human trafficking in the region. “This court must send a clear message that such acts will not be tolerated,” she said.
The Nigerian High Commission in Ghana has since taken custody of the rescued girls. In a memo signed by Acting High Commissioner Adeoye Ifedayo, the victims were identified as natives of Imo and Plateau states and are currently being housed at the Commission’s facility in Cantonment, Accra.
Olayemi Akinwande, President of NIDO Ghana, praised the court’s decision but called for stronger cross-border collaboration. “This is a victory for justice, but we must do more to dismantle trafficking networks and protect vulnerable youth,” he said.
