The Accra Circuit Court 5, presided over by Her Honour Mrs. Christina Cann, has remanded two Nigerian nationals into police custody over multiple counts of human trafficking. Two others have been declared at large.
The accused, Chidemma Nweke alias Mama, aged 24, and Mercy Francis alias Gina, also known as Blessing, aged 27, were arraigned before the court on charges of recruiting and trafficking young women from Nigeria to Ghana under false pretenses and coercing them into prostitution.
According to court documents, in January 2025, Chidemma Nweke allegedly trafficked a young Nigerian woman, Favour Chinecherem, to Asuogya Krobo in the Wassa Akropong area. The victim was promised a job as a sales girl in a boutique but was instead forced into commercial sex work upon arrival in Ghana.
In a related case, Mercy Francis is facing three counts – one for abetment of human trafficking and two separate counts of trafficking additional victims.
She is accused of aiding and abetting Nweke, alongside two other suspects identified only as Favour and Blessing, both of whom are currently at large.
Mercy Francis is further alleged to have, in January 2025, trafficked Loveth Bassey Victor from Nigeria to Ghana under false pretenses, forcing her into prostitution upon arrival. Again in April 2025, she allegedly used the same method to traffic Esther Etimukpong Victor, luring her with the promise of a job as a sales girl before coercing her into sex work.
The accused have been charged under various provisions of the Human Trafficking Act, 2005 (Act 694), as amended by Act 784, as well as the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29).
They are to reappear in court on 29th April, 2025 as investigations continue, while efforts are underway to apprehend the two other suspects still at large.
