A Nigerian businessman, who was arrested at the Sogakope Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) Check Point, in the Volta Region, for facilitating the trafficking of four victims, has been sentenced to five years imprisonment.
Muftau Kimbele Yusif, was grabbed by the Sogakope Sector Command of the GIS after he told personnel there that he worked in Togo.
The convict also said that on June 5, this year, he had a call from Baba Fita, a friend in Nigeria, requesting him to bring four persons interested in traveling from Togo to Cote d’voire. Yusif, therefore, recruited four victims aged 18, 19, 21 and 26 years.
Facing four counts of acting as intermediary in human trafficking and Illegal entry, Yusif pleaded guilty before a Sogakope Circuit Court.
The court convicted Yusif on his own counts and sentenced him accordingly.
Prosecution led by Superintendent of Immigration, John Bernard Otoo, and Yussif Misbwu, Assistant Superintendent of Immigration, narrated that Yusif, who is a businessman plies his trade in Ivory Coast.
Prosecution said on June 6, 2023, Yusif was arrested at the Sogakope GIS Check Point for attempting to travel to Ivory Coast with four Nigerian girls (name withheld).
The court heard that Yusif claimed Baba Fita, a Nigerian, handed over the girls to him in Lome, Togo.
The prosecution said convict, claimed that Baba Fita gave him money (N140,000 that is N35,000 each victim) to transport the four victims from Togo to Ivory Coast.
Prosecution said Yusif, accused who entered Ghana without passport, boarded a VIP Bus bound for Ivory Coast with the victims, but was arrested at the Sogakope GIS check point.
The court heard that investigations revealed that Yusif was going to hand over the girls to Queen in Buafle, in Ivory Coast, who gave telephone numbers 0172696672 and 0544287490 to convict. —GNA