By Paul Dada
A Federal High Court in Asaba, Delta State, has sentenced Mrs. Christiana Uadiale to 12 years imprisonment with an option of N14 million fine for human trafficking.
The presiding judge, Justice F.A. Olubanjo, handed down the judgment after finding the convict guilty of the charges preferred against her by the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP).
The judge first gave the convict an option of N11 million fine. Then, she ordered N1.5 million each to be paid to the two victims of trafficking for their rehabilitation.
She then ordered an additional N3 million to be paid to the two witnesses (victims) of human trafficking.
The NAPTIP prosecutor, Victoria Oburoh, said the agency’s management would decide whether to contest the judgment. She said, ” Oburoh said, ” Inasmuch as option of fine is awarded to the Convict, the law itself is clear, there is no an option of fine; it is conviction, imprisonment and fine but we cannot contest that now but the decision lies with the management to take.”
But the convict’s lawyer, Emmanuel Afolabi (SAN), lauded the judgment, saying the option of fine was better for his client.
The convict who was said to have been arraigned on a six-count charge bordering on human trafficking, had during the trial pleaded not guilty but was said to have absconded after being granted bail. The trial continued in her absence.
However, she was arrested on December 31, 2024, by the Nigeria Immigration Service at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
Source; PM News.
