Two Nigerians remanded for human trafficking, prostitution

Two Nigerians have been remanded into police custody by a Circuit Court in Accra for allegedly forcing some young girls into prostitution by trafficking them from Nigeria to Ghana under the guise of providing them with decent jobs.

Court documents indicate that Chidemma Nweke aka Mama, 24, sex worker and Mery Francis aka Gina aka Blessing, 27-year-old trader, harboured the victims at a brothel at Wassa Akropong in the Western North Region and forced them into prostitution and collected the proceeds.

The documents further state that a total of seven girls have been rescued from the brothel where they were kept by their traffickers and being used as sex workers.

Mery Francis aka Gina aka Blessing has been charged with two counts of human trafficking and one count of abetment of human trafficking while Chidemma Nweke is facing one count of human trafficking.

The two pleaded not guilty when they made their appearance before the court yesterday.

Two other suspects identified only as Favour and Blessing, who according to court documents, “bought” one of the victims are on the run, and the police are making efforts to apprehend them.

Prosecuting documents identified the complainant as Chief Calistus Eloziepuwa, the President of Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation in Ghana.

It states that on April 7, 2025, the complainant together with a victim (who we shall refer to as Ama) reported to the Anti Human Trafficking Unit ClD/Headquarters to lodge a complaint that the victim had been rescued by a Good Samaritan at Wassa Akropong who brought her to Accra.

The victim told the police during an interview that there were several other victims being held hostage by the accused and their accomplices.

On April 10, 2025, a team of personnel from the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit led by the Station Officer left for Wassa Akropong for arrest and rescue operation, at the end of which six (6) additional victims were rescued and the two accused persons were arrested.

Preliminary investigation revealed that Chidemma Nweke recruited and transported Ama from Nigeria to Ghana under the pretext of working in her boutique but on reaching Ghana she harboured her at a brothel in Asuogya Krobo and later forced her into prostitution and collected the proceeds.

It said after a period of time, Mery Francis aka Gina who was managing the brothel and a drinking spot called Royal City Pub, advised Chidemma to sell Ama, which she did at the cost of GH¢5,000.00 and gave GH¢500 to Mery as her share.

The brief fact indicates that Mery while managing other traffickers' victims for them, saw how lucrative it was and also traveled to Nigeria and recruited two ladies under the guise of giving them jobs as sales girls in Ghana.

However, she forcibly engaged them into prostitution at Asuogya Krobo in Wassa Akropong and collected the proceeds by recording same in a notebook.

-DGN online