Two foreigners who allegedly lured two young women from Nigeria to Ho under the pretext of finding them jobs in a boutique in Ghana, but later forced them into prostitution, have been sent back to police cells after failing to meet their bail conditions of GH¢ 50,000 with two sureties.
This was after the accused persons made their second appearance at the Ho Circuit Court yesterday.
The two, who are charged with human trafficking, are Zeinab Musah, 23, alias Berry; and Halima Abdulai, 23, alias Treasure.
Not guilty
The court, presided by Mr Felix Datsomor was told that after the unsuspecting victims arrived in Ho, the accused persons forbade them from wearing underpants and brassieres, and immediately arranged for men to have sex with them in a hotel.
Senior State Attorney, Andrews Dodzi Adugu, who represented the republic, said the accused persons sometimes took their victims to a popular nightclub in Ho to offer them to men for sex and took their earnings from them.
The prosecution said when the victims insisted on returning to Nigeria, the accused persons locked them in a room and prevented them from coming out.
In one instance, the accused persons asked one of their victims to tell her mother to send an amount of 1.2 million Naira to them if she wanted to secure her freedom.
They later seized the phones and panties of their victims and warned them that if they fled, they (the accused) would use the items to charm them.
On May 12, this year, the prosecution said both victims managed to escape from the house at Ho-Dave and pleaded with a tricycle taxi operator to spend the night in his house.
The next day, the victims reported the matter to the Ho Central Police Station, which in turn informed the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit, the court was further told.
Caution Statement
Subsequently, the two women were arrested the same day.
The prosecution said the two women stated in their caution statements that the victims were aware they were going to be engaged in prostitution in Ho before coming over to Ghana and they never promised them any work in any boutique.
Each accused person was granted bail in the sum of GH¢50,000 with two sureties but they could not meet the bail conditions and had to be escorted back to police custody.
The hearing continues on June 14.
Source: Graphic
