Patricia Igbinovia, 55, has been sentenced to seven years in prison for transporting underage girls abroad for prostitution.
The court also sentenced Igbinovia to pay N1 million for her illegal behavior, in addition to serving the term.
Igbinovia, who was accused of six counts of trafficking young girls, promoting girls’ prostitution, and sexual exploitation, was brought before Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke by the National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), but pleaded guilty.
In the accusation, the prosecutor, Mrs. Becky Jibo, stated the convict belonged to a cartel that organizes and funds overseas travel for females to promote prostitution and sexual exploitation.
She alleged the criminal recruited girls to go from Lagos to Málaga, in Spain, for prostitution.
Following the convict’s guilty plea, the prosecution filed an appeal to review the facts of the case, which the court granted.
The prosecutor called a witness, Mrs. Mabel Bajulaiye, a member of the team that investigated intelligence on the Nigerian organized crime ring.
The witness informed the court that sometime in 2016, the Federal Government got intelligence about a crime cell that trafficked young girls to Madrid and Málaga in Spain via the Attorney General’s office.
Bajulaiye said that the girls were forced to work as prostitutes for sexual exploitation and financial gain.
According to the witness, the crime was discovered thanks to a collaboration between the Nigerian and Spanish governments on human trafficking and prostitution.
In his ruling, Justice Aneke stated that he listened to the defense’s plea for leniency, especially as the convict did not waste the court’s time.
