A Kano State High Court has sentenced a 32-year-old man, Peter Sylvest-Aisedu, to 30 months in prison for attempting to traffic a 30-year-old woman from Edo State to Italy.
Sylvest-Aisedu, who resides at No. 5, Rue Boris Vian Jattu, Etsako Local Government Area, Edo State, was convicted on a single charge of attempting to procure illegal entry.
Delivering the judgment, Justice Adam Abdullahi sentenced the convict after he pleaded guilty to the charge brought against him by the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Kano Command. Abdullahi ruled that the prosecution had proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt.
Sylvest-Aisedu was sentenced to 30 months imprisonment without the option of a fine.
Earlier, the Prosecution Counsel and Kano Zonal Commander of NAPTIP, Mr. Abdullahi Babale, informed the court that the convict committed the offence on July 22, 2024.
He explained that Sylvest-Aisedu received N70,000 from the 30-year-old female victim as part of the trafficking scheme.
“The convict attempted to procure illegal entry of the victim from Edo to Italy through Jigawa State, Niger Republic, and Libya,” Babale said.
The prosecution presented one witness and two exhibits, including the convict’s confessional statement and the victim’s testimony, to support its case.
Babale noted that the offence violated Section 29 of the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act, 2015, and is punishable under Section 26(1) of the same Act.
In response, the convict’s counsel, Mr. Isma’il Abdulaziz, pleaded for leniency on behalf of his client.
(NAN)