Ex-Cop Imprisoned For Raping, Sex-Trafficking Lagos Teenager
Retired police officer Ariwayo Oloyede, aka Oyinbo, has been handed down a year in prison for his role in human trafficking by the Federal High Court in Lagos state.
The ex-cop was found guilty alongside Christian Owanebi, who was living in Burkina Faso at the time of his arrest and was sentenced to seven years in prison by Justice Abimbola Awogboro.
On Friday, the judge handed down his ruling, saying the prosecution had proven all of the counts against the defendants beyond reasonable doubt after finding them guilty on three counts of conspiracy and human trafficking brought by the National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic in Persons.
The court found that the defendant's attorney just conceived of their arguments as an afterthought.
Owanebi, the first convict, was found guilty on all counts by Justice Awogboro and given a total prison term of seven years.
Although the judge noted that the ex-cop had been a model courtroom citizen, she nonetheless imposed a one-year prison term on each count.
She ruled that the sentences should be served all at once, starting with the judgment date of Friday.
In Burkina Faso, the convicted criminals stood accused of working together to force 19-year-old Onyinyechi into prostitution.
Chinedu Akaegbu, the NAPTIP prosecutor, testified that the defendants committed their crimes in November 2012.
Onyinyechi testified, detailing how Oyinbo had tricked her into prostitution.
According to the victim, Oyinbo met her when she was working as a maid in the Ajah neighbourhood of Lagos and offered to find her a job as a store attendant in Burkina Faso.
She claims the suspect originally wanted N200,000 to cover her trip costs and secure the job, but he lowered the price to N150,000 after they had sex.
The girl claimed they left without alerting her mother and that when they arrived in Burkina Faso, the suspect took her phone and gave her to a lady she claimed to be a social sex worker named Madam Eunice.
Onyinyechi said that the client sent her to work as a prostitute at a hotel between 6 p.m. and 12 a.m.
She claimed that Madam Eunice had lectured her on how to entice clients and that she slept with 10–12 men per day while earning 85,000 CFA.
“After one week, Owanebi, who lives with his wife in Burkina Faso, told me he was travelling back to Nigeria. He gave me his phone because my phone was seized from me, pending the time I would pay the outstanding debt for my travel expenses.
“I asked Owanebi to visit my mother, who lives in Lagos, to give him some money. Owanebi then promised to call me so that I could speak with my mother,” she added.
The woman further reported that the two suspects had her swear an oath before she left Lagos, threatening her life if she informed anyone about what had happened.
She claimed they slashed her hand, extracted her blood, and then melted palm oil, iron rods, red garments, and a razor to prepare the potion out of her hair. According to Onyinyechi, a herbalist presided over the oath-taking ceremony.
Still, the young lady mustered the courage to tell her mother what had occurred. Her mother eventually contacted authorities, who apprehended Owanebi and his cohort.