A Federal High Court in Lagos state has sentenced one Patricia Igbinovia, to seven years imprisonment for trafficking young girls abroad for prostitution.
National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, NAPTIP, arraigned the defendant on a six-count charge of trafficking young girls, promoting girls’ prostitution and sexual exploitation.
The prosecution counsel, Mrs Becky Jibo told the court that Igbinovia belonged to a cartel that organizes and sponsors foreign travel for girls, to promote prostitution and sexual exploitation.
She said that Igbinovia, who pleaded guilty to the charges recruited girls to go from Lagos to Málaga, in Spain, for prostitution.
Following the convict’s guilty plea, the prosecutor appealed to review the facts of the case which the court granted.
The prosecutor called a witness, Mrs Mabel Bajulaiye, a member of the team that investigated the intelligence about the Nigerian organized crime group.
The witness told the court how, sometime in 2016, the Federal Government through the office of the Attorney General, received intelligence about a crime group that trafficked young girls to Madrid and Málaga in Spain.
Bajulaiye said the girls were made to offer their bodies for sexual exploitation and monetary gain. Also, the witness said the crime was uncovered due to the synergy between the Nigerian and Spanish Governments on human trafficking and prostitution.
Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke convicted the 55-year-old woman on Thursday and also ordered her to pay the sum of N1 million for her illicit act, in addition to serving the sentence.
