A Nigerian hairdresser has been slapped with a 15-year prison sentence for trafficking seven victims from Nigeria to Ghana to engage in prostitution.
The convict, Promise Obianu Awayiaka, is said to have compelled her victims to shave their pubic hair as part of an intimidation ritual to ensure compliance.
She pleaded guilty to seven counts of human trafficking when she appeared before the Sogakope Circuit Court.
Additionally, the 32-year-old hairdresser has been ordered to give each victim GH¢10,000 in compensation.
The Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) is expected to provide counselling to the victims and facilitate their safe return to Nigeria.
The trial judge, Isaac Addo, stressed that the severity of the offence, the number of victims involved, and the nature of the crimes committed prompted the court to take stringent action against sex traffickers.
“This gruesome act is clearly a modern form of slavery, which must not be countenanced,” the judge stated.
The facts presented before the court reveal that Promise resided in Mafi-Kuamse, a suburb of Sogakope in the Volta Region.
According to the prosecution, she recruited and transported seven young girls from Nigeria to Ghana under the guise of securing them jobs at a supermarket in Kasoa.
However, she deceitfully subjected them to a life of prostitution.
The victims, initially brought in two groups, were forced into sexual exploitation, their earnings confiscated by the convict.
As authorities were alerted to their plight in Kasoa, Promise moved them to a guesthouse in Mafi Kumase, Sogakope.
At the new location, three more victims were coerced into prostitution after undergoing a ritual involving shaving their pubic hair to solidify the control exerted over them.
Trafficking is a grave violation of human rights and a criminal activity that spans national and international borders.
Governments, international organizations, and NGOs work together to combat trafficking through legislation, law enforcement, and support services for survivors.
In May 2023, for instance, the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), in collaboration with the Ghana Police Service, apprehended a sex trafficking syndicate operating in Accra.
This breakthrough came as a result of an intelligence-led operation, leading to the arrest of 49 Nigerian nationals.