The Gauteng High Court recently sentenced a 36-year-old man to 20 years in prison for human trafficking and related crimes after he lured victims from Upington in the Northern Cape and exploited them in a brothel operation in Johannesburg.
THE GAUTENG High Court in Johannesburg sentenced 36-year-old Emmanuel Uzoaga to 20 years of direct imprisonment on charges of human trafficking, fraud, uttering, and contravening the Immigration Act.
According to Hawks Northern Cape spokesperson Warrant Officer Nomthandazo Mnisi, Uzoaga’s legal troubles started in May 2021 when the Upington police received an anonymous tip-off that he was preparing to transport an 18-year-old victim to Johannesburg via public transport for sexual exploitation.
Initial Investigations revealed that Uzoaga had previously transported the same victim to the same location.
Acting on this information, the police obtained a search warrant and raided a house in Lonehill, Johannesburg, which had been converted into a brothel. During the raid, officers rescued three additional victims and arrested two other suspects.
Uzoaga and his accomplice, 32-year-old James Okhudili Ugwuoke, both Nigerian nationals, have remained in custody since their arrests in Upington and Johannesburg, respectively. A third suspect, 27-year-old Luzinda Pinky Abraham, was initially among the rescued victims but was later found to have been involved in the crimes.
Further investigations revealed that Abraham had worked as a recruiter, luring friends from Upington in the Northern Cape to Johannesburg under false pretenses. Once there, the victims were forced into prostitution and subjected to daily drug use.
Abraham was subsequently charged and found guilty of forgery.
On January 17, Uzoaga received a sentence of 20 years for trafficking in persons, four years for uttering, four years for fraud, and 12 months for contravening the Immigration Act. The sentences will run concurrently. He was also declared unfit to possess a firearm.
Abraham was sentenced to pay a fine of R10,000 or serve two years in prison.
The provincial head of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) in the Northern Cape, Major-General Steven Mabuela, praised the efforts of the police and prosecution team for their hard work in bringing the perpetrators to justice.