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The Odumase Circuit Court has sentenced 25-year-old Baba Issa Zakaria, an okada rider from Agomanya, to 10 years imprisonment for trafficking Nigerian women into Ghana and forcing them into prostitution.
Zakaria pleaded guilty to charges including sextortion, trading in prostitution, and the use of trafficked persons. The court also fined him GHC 2,400, with a warning that failure to pay would result in an additional year in prison. All sentences are to run concurrently.
According to police investigations, Zakaria lured several women from Nigeria to Agomanya under false pretenses, only to coerce them into sex work. The victims were forced to pay him GHC 150 each week from their earnings.
His criminal operations came to light when he and accomplices assaulted a client, Desmond Agmortey, and extorted GHC 1,200 from Agmortey’s brother by threatening to release a video of the attack.
A co-accused, Ella Elizabeth, 26, also pleaded guilty to engaging in prostitution and was fined GHC 2,400.
The presiding judge described the sentence as a necessary deterrent against the rising threat of human trafficking in the area. Investigations suggest that Zakaria had been running the trafficking ring since 2024, using WhatsApp groups to coordinate the illicit trade.
Report by: Austin Ofori Addo
Rite FM – Eastern Region, Somanya
Contact: 0548684913 / 0534615862
