(Abia) Court remands woman over alleged child trafficking, sexual exploitation of 21 girls

A Magistrate Court in Umuahia has remanded a 56-year-old lady, Nma Achumba, in the Nigeria Correctional Centre, Afara, Umuahia, for allegedly recruiting and abducting 21 young girls for sexual exploitation and child trafficking.

According to the accusations made against her, in June 2023, the accused was recruiting and abducting young girls and sexually exploiting them in Umunkpeyi Nvosi, Isiala Ngwa South LGA, and Olokoro, Umuahia South LGA of the State.

However, the 56-year-old woman pled not guilty.

The trial Magistrate, Ngozi Lekwa, ruled in a brief ruling following her plea that the act is punished under Section 13 of the Trafficking in Persons Enforcement and Administration Act 2015 and Section 86 of the Criminal Code, as they apply in Abia State.

She, on the other side, claimed that the Magistrate Court lacked authority to hear the case.

The court ordered that the case file be forwarded to the Abia State Ministry of Justice’s Department of Public Prosecutions in Umuahia.

The case was postponed to November 7, 2023, for a compliance report, and the accused, Nma Achumba, was remanded in the Umuahia Correctional Centre.

However, Ikechuckwu Uwanna, the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice of Abia State, stated that the state is resolved to pursue people involved in dirty and unlawful operations that bring dishonor to the image of the state.

The Attorney General, who was represented by the ministry’s Director of Public Prosecution, Mr. Vincent Chukwu, observed that there had been reports of pockets of similar concerns in various parts of Abia’s Osisioma, Isiala Ngwa North, and Umuahia North local government areas.

Uwanna told the Abia people that the law would take its course and warned them against indulging in illegal businesses.