By Murtala Issah
A Nigerian Woman resident in Tamale was sentenced on Tuesday, December 13, 2022, to five years in prison by a Circuit Court Judge after pleading guilty to human trafficking and forced prostitution.
Forty-one-year-old Blessing Favour collapsed in the dock after the Presiding Judge, his Lordship, Alexander Oworae, announced the sentence. She earlier pleaded for clemency, telling the court that she is a single mother and deeply regrets her actions. The judge, however, ignored her plea, saying the sentence should serve as a deterrent to others who are engaged in similar acts or intend to do same.
Blessing Favour on Monday, December 5, 2022, pleaded guilty to charges of human trafficking and forced prostitution.
According to the Prosecution, the now convict, engages in trafficking young women from Nigeria under the pretext of giving them jobs in Ghana. Her victims, on the other hand, are sent to brothels in Tamale, Northern Region, and “Dollar Power,” a mining community in Savannah Region.
On Sunday, December 4, 2022, luck eluded Blessing Favour, when she chased one of her victims, who defied her orders to go out and prospect for men. The victim, run into a police officer and immediately raised an alarm. She was subsequently arrested and brought before a Tamale Circuit court on Monday. The victim was in Court on Tuesday when her former boss was sentenced.
When GBC News asked her impressions, she responded “I am fine,” and seemed lost in thought. She will later tell this reporter that, though the Police are taking good care of her, she is worried about how to raise funds to return to Nigeria.
Hundreds of young Nigerian women operate in various district capitals in Northern Ghana, especially in Tamale, Walewale, Damongo, Bole, Bolgatanga and Wa.
Many of them are said to be victims of trafficking, but are sworn to secrecy on arrival. The victim in this case narrated that her public hair, blood, and nails were used in a ritual where she and other girls were made to swear not to speak about their ordeal.
“She told us that, if we tell anyone, we will die or go mad,” she explained.
GBC News also learnt that the convict was once a victim of trafficking, but managed to escape from her Madam. A few months ago, a young female commercial sex worker told GBC News that she had to raise eight thousand cedis in three months to wean herself from her “Madam.”