An Accra Circuit Court has granted a Nigerian couple bail in the sum of GHC150,000 for their involvement in human trafficking.
Hannah Omokaro and Chigbo Abraham were arrested by the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) for allegedly trafficking two victims from Nigeria to Ghana to engage in Prostitution.
The pair who appeared in court were charged jointly with illegal entry and staying in Ghana without an immigration permit.
Abraham is also facing an additional charge of failure to report the trafficking of a person.
Omokaro has also been charged with human trafficking.
The accused persons, who were without legal representation, pleaded not guilty before the court presided over by Mrs Christina Cann.
The court granted them bail in the sum of GHC150,000 with three sureties apiece, two of whom were to be justified with landed property.
It said all sureties should be Ghanaians.
According to the prosecution, led by Superintendent of Immigration Bernard John Otoo, the couple entered Ghana without passports in January 2022 and have since remained in the country without a residence and work permits.
It said the accused, who ran a restaurant before their arrest, cohabited in Wasa Dunkwa.
According to the prosecution, the couple brought the victims, aged 22 and 21, from Nigeria to Ghana to engage in prostitution to raise revenue for their restaurant in Asankran-Breman.
It said the victims were recruited in Nigeria and transported to Ghana at the couple’s cost.
The prosecution claimed that the defendants paid 17,000 Naira to one Mercy Mfon to transport the 22-year-old victim from Nigeria to Ghana, where she arrived on March 27, 2023.
In the case of the 21-year-old victim, an undisclosed amount of money was provided to a Princess in Nigeria, who then arranged for her to travel to Ghana.
According to the prosecution, the claimed Princess gave the victim Abraham’s phone number, which she reached when she arrived in Ghana.
The Prosecutor said Abraham directed the victim to Asankrangwa and met her when she arrived.
Omokaro allegedly engaged with the two victims and set out the conditions and specific work they were to do.
They were instructed to engage in prostitution to defray the cost of bringing them from Nigeria to Ghana.
The prosecution said the 22-year-old was informed she would have to pay GHC13,000 for her freedom, but the 21-year-old was told to pay GHc12,000 before she could be freed.
Investigations revealed that the victims kept sales records indicating that they paid GHC9,150 and GHC9,260, respectively, with the first payment dated April 2, 2023, and the last transaction on June 28, 2023.
Source: GNA