Human Trafficking: Court Sentences Cameroonian To Five Years In Prison

A 41-year-old Cameroonian identified as Wamba Jean-Gaston has been sentenced to five years in imprisonment by a Federal High Court sitting in Kano State.

Jean-Gaston was sentenced after he was found guilty for trafficking three young women and four men from Cameroon enroute Nigeria to Europe.

The three female victims namely Belinga Ovanda, 19; Koussene Agnes, 21; and Meye Uwono, 27; while the male ones are Thomas Ange, 21; Ovanda Rodrigue, 21; Boris Kouass, 20; and Yannick Poudjom, 18.

Liman expressed concern over the implication of the convict’s conduct to general regional insecurity affecting many countries.

He described the convict’s act as a calamity and hazard that could befall not only the victims but could contribute to banditry and kidnapping.

Earlier, counsel to the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Abdullahi Babale, told the court that the convict was arrested in Kano on Dec. 10, 2021.

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He said that the Cameroonian was arrested with the seven victims on their way to Algeria on 10th December, 2021, adding that the convict was illegally processing entry documents for the trafficked persons to travel to Algeria and Europe through Nigeria and Niger Republic, without having a resident permit or visa.

The counsel said the offence was contrary to, and punishable under Section 26 (1) of Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement Act, 2015.