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Human trafficking: Court slams 5 years jail term on Benedicta Usen
By Francesca Hangeior
Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, has convicted and sentenced a woman, identified as Benedicta Usen, also known as Mrs Carol Omomoh, to a five-year imprisonment without option of fine for trafficking a lady for prostitution.
Justice Ekwo, in a judgment, said he found that the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt with respect to each and every allegation in the eight-count charge.
Justice Ekwo consequently sentenced Omomoh to two years and six months imprisonment each in counts one, three, five and seven without an option of fine.
The judge also sentenced her in counts two, four, six and eight to five years imprisonment each without an option of fine.
He ordered that all the jail terms must run concurrently with effect from Feb 3.
Justice Ekwo observed that Omomoh’s denials in the face of her evidence-in-chief as 1st defence witness (DW1) only exposed her “as a barefaced liar, a crooked and dishonest human being.”
According to the judge, to even have the audacity to stand in court and deny the statement she made voluntarily to the police shows how depraved she is.
“The evidence also exposes her as being in the business of procuring young vulnerable women like Miss Cynthia Omoieke for prostitution abroad.
“People like the defendant must be taken out of the society for good.
“I therefore make an order convicting the defendant of the charge In counts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 as charged.
“This is the order of this court,” the judge ruled.
The Inspector-General (I-G) of Police had, in the charge marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/121/2019, named Omomoh as sole defendant.
In the eight-count amended charge dated Oct 24, 2022, the I-G alleged that the defendant Omomoh and Mrs Oyomiya Lamidi ‘f’ (now at large), sometime in year 2011 in Lagos, conspired between themselves to commit the offence by recruiting and transporting Miss Cynthia Loveth Ese Omoieke to Italy through the United Kingdom (UK) by means of deception and abuse of position of vulnerability.
The offence is punishable under Section 27 of the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration (TPPEA) Act, 2015.
In count five, she and Mrs Oyomiya Mama Lamidi ‘f’ (now at large), sometime in 2011 in Lagos, did conspired to commit an offence by organising and facilitating the foreign travel of Omoieke to Italy through the UK which travel promoted prostitution and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 27 of the TPPEA Act, 2015.
Omomoh, however, pleaded not guilty to all the counts and the prosecution called two witnesses to establish its case against her.
President Bola Tinubu has nominated Melvin Ayogu to the board of the Central Bank of Nigeria and has sought Senate confirmation for the appointment.
The Special Adviser to Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, made this in a statement on Wednesday.
Tinubu also sought Senate confirmation for Nwakuche Ndidi as controller-general of the Nigerian Correctional Service.
He said the requests, conveyed in letters to Senate President Godswill Akpabio, were read during Tuesday’s plenary.
Tinubu had previously nominated Robert Agbide, Ado Wanga, Murtala Sagaley, Urom Eke, and Olayinka Aliyu to the CBN board in February 2024.
However, on February 29, 2024, the senate confirmed four people as members of the board of the CBN after Eke rejected the offer, citing “conflict of interest”.
Tinubu replaced Eke with Ruby Onwudiwe on March 13, 2024; however, a day after, reports circulated that the president withdrew her nomination over political affiliation with the Labour Party, an opposition of the All Progressives Congress.
The decision reportedly followed pressure mounted on the president by members of the APC, as Onwudiwe publicly supported Peter Obi, who contested on the LP platform against Tinubu, at the 2023 presidential elections.
Members of the Lagos State House of Assembly have arrived the State House, Abuja, to meet with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The legislators who arrived in two coaster buses had been allowed into the President’s office area to wait for the meeting.
Both the reinstated Speaker of the Assembly, Hon Mudashiru Obasa, and the ousted one, Hon Mojisola Miranda, were also sighted in the team.
While Meranda arrived with her colleagues at some minutes past 2pm, Obasa arrived separately at about 2:50pm.
The meeting may not be unconnected with the recent leadership crisis in the State House of Assembly.
It would be recalled that Hon. Obasa was impeached as Speaker by a majority of his colleagues, but he was latter reinstated after the intervention of the political leaders especially the Governor’s Advisory Council, (GAC)
Despite the Speaker’s reinstatement, it was gathered that the bad blood as a result of his impeachment is yet to be over.
The Nation
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has discribed as “useless” the letter sent by Governor Siminalayi Fubara to the Rivers State House of Assembly, requesting a meeting regarding the Supreme Court’s ruling on the state’s political matters.
During a conversation with journalists in Abuja on Wednesday, Wike, the former governor of Rivers State, voiced his disapproval, emphasizing that Speaker Martins Amaewhule and other members of the Rivers Assembly are independent individuals who deserve respect.
Wike argued that instead of issuing a public letter to invite the lawmakers, Fubara should have contacted Amaewhule and his team directly by phone to schedule a private meeting at a convenient time.
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