Court remands woman over alleged child trafficking, sexual exploitation
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
One Nma Achumba, 56, has been remanded in the Nigeria Correctional Centre (NCS), Afara, Umuahia over alleged child trafficking and abduction and recruitment of 21 young girls for sexual exploitation.
A Magistrate’s Court which remanded the woman was told she abducted, recruited, and sexually exploited the victims in Umunkpeyi Nvosi, Isiala Ngwa, Olokoro, and Umuahia South Councils of Abia in June.
Achumba pleaded not guilty to the charge.
Magistrate Ngozi Lekwa reiterated the offence is punishable under Section 13, Sub section 1, 2 and C of Trafficking in Persons Enforcement and Administration Act 2015 and Section 86 of the Criminal Code, but said the Magistrate Court lacks jurisdiction to handle the matter.
Lekwa ordered the case file be transferred to the Department of Public Prosecution Abia State Ministry of Justice and adjourned the case until November 7 for report of compliance.
The accused was remanded in the Correctional Centre, Umuahia.
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Abia vows to prosecute criminal actors
Abia Attorney General and Justice Commissioner Ikechuckwu Uwanna stressed the government’s determination to prosecute those involved in dirty and illegal businesses that soil the image of the state, per Daily Post.
Uwanna, represented by the ministry’s Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) Vincent Chukwu, said there have been reports of such cases in parts of Osisioma, Isiala Ngwa North and Umuahia North Councils.
He insisted the law must take its course and advised the public against illegal activities.
Woman confesses hardship forced her to sell her grandson for N50,000
One Oluchukwu Nwosu was arrested by the police last month for selling her three-month-old grandson for N50,000 even though she claimed economic hardship pushed her into the horrendous crime.
Nwosu, a resident of Nnewi in Anambra, was apprehended by officials of the state Ministry of Women Affairs, and brought before the Commissioner, Ify Obinabo, where she confessed to the atrocity.
A video of her apprehension showed her weeping profusely and explaining she was pushed to sell the baby because her daughter, Ijeoma, is in the habit of getting pregnant and dumping her children with her (Nwosu) to take care of.
“This is the third time my daughter Ijeoma has conceived out of wedlock. Due to our poor income we’ve had trouble feeding right from the time my daughter gave birth to the first baby,” she recounted.
“We had no other option than to take the kids to motherless babies home, especially when our daughter refused to tell us who was responsible for her pregnancy.
“I came across a buyer, one Tochukwu Asiegbu, who approached me, after bargaining, paid me the agreed sum.”
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