A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has sentenced one Miracle Ita to two years’ imprisonment for trafficking in a 16-year-old girl from Oron, Akwa-Ibom to Lagos for prostitution.
Ita, 27, and a mother of two who is a professional prostitute, was arrested by operatives of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) on July 15, 2016 at Okon Brothel, Ajah, Lagos where she was exploiting the victim.
In a statement signed by NAPTIP’s spokesman, Mr Josiah Emerole, the convict was earlier arraigned in court on February 24, 2016 where she pleaded not guilty to the one count charge of trafficking in persons preferred against her.
Delivering judgement on Tuesday, Justice Obiozor found her guilty and subsequently sentenced her to two years’ imprisonment with additional fine of N250,000.
In her reaction to the verdict, the Director-General of NAPTIP, Dame Julie Okah-Donli, expressed appreciation to the trial judge and the judiciary for rising up to the occasion in the fight against human trafficking.
She said NAPTIP, with the cooperation of the judiciary and other sister law enforcement agencies, would leave no stone unturned in ridding the country of human trafficking.
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