Sisters remanded for human trafficking

January 14, 2011
THREE sisters who allegedly trafficked 10 young girls for labour and prostitution in Nigeria were yesterday arraigned before the Accra Circuit Court on conspiracy and human trafficking charges.
Fati Abukari, Memuna Abukari and Zinabu Abukari, all traders, were said to have been in this illegal profession for the past 10 years.
The three were alleged to have, some time in 2007, trafficked their victims from Agbogloshie in Accra and Gushegu in the Northern Region and transported them to Nigeria for labour and prostitution.
The victims are Ayisha Ibrahim, Zara Abukari, Hamama Dokrugu, Amina Ali, Ikema Alhassan, Adiza Fuseini, Fatima Yakubu, Rahimatu Alhassan, Nasara Adams and Ibrahim Ayisha.
The accused persons each pleaded not guilty to two counts of conspiracy and human trafficking and each of them was granted bail in the sum of GH¢10,000 with a surety.
The accused persons were taken into custody, waiting to get sureties to bail them out. They are expected to appear before the court, presided over by Mrs Georgina Mensah-Datsa, on January 17, 2011.
Prosecuting, Assistant Superintendent of Police, Ms Mary Agbozo, told the court that the complainant in the case was a member of staff of the Regional Advocacy Information and Network System (RAINS), a non-governmental organisation, while the accused persons lived in Ghana and Nigeria.
According to the prosecutor, on December 28, 2010, a victim confided in the complainant that about four years ago she and other girls were recruited by the accused persons from Agbogloshie and Gushegu and transported to Nigeria under the pretext of securing them jobs.
The victim told the complainant that she and the other girls were made to sell porridge during the day and forced to engage in prostitution during the night.
According to her, the accused persons took all the proceeds from the sale of the porridge and the prostitution, without paying her and her colleagues.
In the process, one of the girls was forced into marriage, while one of them went through a series of abortions as a result of having unprotected sex with her male customers.
During investigations, it emerged that the accused persons had been in the trafficking trade for the past 10 years.
They denied committing any offence but admitted transporting a number of girls to Nigeria for work.
Ten of the rescued girls are currently in a safe shelter.