A Nigerian man identified as Chinedu Obasi, has
been sentenced to 18 years in prison, after he was found guilty of marrying a
South African lady to obtain citizenship but not living with her.
It is gathered that he was arraigned alongside
one Obioma Abba, for running a brothel and a human trafficking syndicate. While
Obasi was sentenced to 18 years for marrying a South African woman to obtain
citizenship but not living with her, an offence which contravenes the
Immigration Act, Obioma was sentenced to 12 years’ effective imprisonment on
two charges of human trafficking.
It is further learnt that they were arrested in
August after some of the sex workers escaped and alerted the police that they
were held against their wish and converted to sex workers. During their trial,
two sex workers testified against Obioma and Obasi, revealing how the duo plied
them with drugs and held them captive in the flat, only allowing them to go out
at night to work as prostitutes.
The Judge said although the two women who worked
as prostitutes for the brothers were exposed to a lot of trauma, they were
already in the sex trade and hooked on drugs when they were recruited by the
brothers. The women have since been rehabilitated from drugs and they have
obtained good jobs. However, during the trial, they were under the state’s
witness protection plan for their own safety. They also could not face their
pimps in court as they were too afraid. They testified about their dark lives
on the streets via closed-circuit television from an adjacent room.
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