A Ghanaian court has sentenced a 29-year-old Nigerian man, Chukwudi Nwachukwu, to ten years in prison for trafficking his younger sister and nine other teenage girls from Nigeria to Ghana for prostitution.
The disturbing case began as a promise of legitimate restaurant jobs but quickly turned into a nightmare of forced sex work and spiritual intimidation.
According to Prosecutor Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Isaac Babayi, the case was exposed through the intervention of a community leader, Chief Calistus Eloziepuwa, a member of the Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation (NIDO) in Ghana.
Chief Eloziepuwa reportedly alerted the police after discovering that Nwachukwu had smuggled the girls into Ghana under false pretenses.
On June 7, 2024, the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit (AHTU) at the CID Headquarters received a report from the Nmai Dzorn Police Station indicating that Eloziepuwa and his team had apprehended Nwachukwu and rescued the ten victims.
Investigations revealed that the convict personally sponsored the girls’ trip from Nigeria and worked with unidentified accomplices who recruited them from rural communities.
Upon arrival, the victims were confined at Liberia Camp, near Kasoa, where Nwachukwu allegedly took them to a shrine. There, he forced them to swear oaths of loyalty after cutting their pubic hair.
He reportedly warned the girls that they would suffer incurable skin diseases if they tried to escape or disobeyed him.
Each victim was also given waist beads from the shrine before being transferred to Odorkor, a suburb of Accra, where they were coerced into prostitution.
The girls were forced to pay Nwachukwu GH₵300 daily from their earnings.
Police later found a notebook in which he meticulously recorded each girl’s daily payments.
During sentencing at the Achimota Circuit Court, Judge Akosua Anokyewaa Adjepong found Nwachukwu guilty on two counts of human trafficking.
Although the convict pleaded for leniency as a first-time offender, the judge said the growing cases of human trafficking required a firm judicial response.
She sentenced him to ten years’ imprisonment on each count, to run concurrently, and ordered him to pay GH₵15,000 compensation to each of the ten victims.
The court’s decision underscores Ghana’s tough stance on cross-border human trafficking and serves as a warning to others exploiting vulnerable young women for financial gain.
The case also highlights how community vigilance can help expose transnational crimes hidden behind promises of employment and a better life abroad.
“This case is a reminder that traffickers are often familiar faces,” Chief Eloziepuwa said.
“We must remain alert and protect our young girls from deception and abuse.”