Success James, 35, was sentenced to prison by the Magistrate’s Court in Awka for child labor and abduction female minors for prostitution in Anambra State.
The presiding magistrate, Genevieve Osakwe, ruled James guilty of seven of the eight offenses filed against him on Wednesday.
Osakwe, who found James guilty, sentenced her to five years in jail for count one, five years for count two, two years for count three, four years for count four, two years for count five, two years for count six, two years for count seven, and one year for count eight.
Osakwe added that all the sentences should run concurrently with no option of fine.
The defendant was captured in Onitsha, Anambra State, in December 2022, and brought before a court in Awka for kidnapping four teenage females from Akwa Ibom State and employing them for child labor.
On December 23, 2022, officers from the state Ministry of Women and Social Welfare rescued the four adolescent females.
The victims claimed they were abducted by the suspect, who promised them jobs in Agbor, Delta State, selling drinks in a beer parlour, but when they arrived, they realized they had been transported to do prostitution.
While expressing delight with the decision, the state Commissioner for Women and Social Welfare, Ify Obinabo, stated that the youngsters had been enrolled in school and had also been acquiring skills of their choosing at the state skills acquisition center in Awka.