No mercy for brothers
HIGH COURT: STIFF JAIL TERMS FOR NIGERIAN HUMAN TRAFFICKERS
Victim looks forward to a better life away from prostitution, drugs.
Two Nigerian brothers convicted of human trafficking, running a brothel from their Sunnyside flat and keeping two women captive have been sentenced to stiff jail terms.
Judge Ronel Tolmay of the High Court in Pretoria sentenced Obioma Abba, 33, to 12 years’ effective sentenced to 18 years’ imprisonment for human trafficking and contravening the Immigration Act. He married a South African woman to obtain citizenship but is not living with her.
Two former prostitutes testified during the trial how Abba and Obasi had plied them with drugs and held them captive in their flat, only allowing them to go out at night to work as prostitutes.
The women had to hand all of the money they earned to the accused and were assaulted if they did not toe the line.
The judge found that although the women were already addicted to drugs and working as prostitutes when they willingly joined the accused, Abba and Obasi had exploited them in a way that constituted slavery and sexual exploitation.
The judge said the accused’s lack of remorse and failure to take responsibility for their actions did not bode well for the possibility of rehabilitation. She found in their favour that they were first-time offenders who had already spent time in jail; that they were not the ones who had introduced the two victims to drugs and prostitution; and that their victims’ emotional and psychological trauma could only be partially attributed to them.
The judge said both the victims came from deprived economic backgrounds and had no means other than prostitution to satisfy their cravings, which made them easy prey for the accused.
One of the women was still struggling with addiction to alcohol and cigarettes, still had nightmares and feared rejection by her family and the community. The other told a social worker she was not capable of living a normal life and re-experienced her ordeal continually. She was receiving counselling.
One victim said she was happy that her tormentors were going to jail, although she had expected more severe sentences. She said she had turned her life around and would never go back to a life of drugs and prostitution and was looking forward to the birth of her baby next month.
Women assaulted if they did not toe the line.