Victims lured from Upington in the Northern Cape to Johannesburg under false pretences and forced into prostitution gained a measure of justice this week as one of their traffickers was found guilty in Gauteng.
VICTIMS lured from Upington in the Northern Cape to Johannesburg under false pretences and forced into prostitution gained a measure of justice this week as one of their traffickers was found guilty.
The Gauteng Division of the High Court in Johannesburg found 36-year-old Emmanuel Uzoaga guilty of trafficking in persons, uttering and fraud, and contravening the Immigration Act.
According to Northern Cape Hawks spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Tebogo Thebe, Uzoaga’s legal troubles began in May 2021. The Upington police received an anonymous tip-off that Uzoaga was about to transport an 18-year-old victim to Johannesburg for sexual exploitation. Initial investigations revealed that Uzoaga had previously transported the victim to the same location.
The police obtained a search warrant for the identified location, which was executed in May 2021 at a house in Lonehill, Johannesburg, that had been converted into a brothel. During the search, the police rescued three additional victims and arrested two other suspects.
Uzoaga and his accomplice, 32-year-old James Okhudili Ugwuoke, both Nigerian nationals, have been in custody since their arrests in Upington and Johannesburg, respectively. The third accused, 27-year-old Luzinda Pinky Abraham, was initially one of the rescued victims. However, further investigation revealed her involvement in the crime, leading to a warrant for her arrest.
The investigation uncovered that all the victims were lured from Upington in the Northern Cape under false pretences by Abraham, who was connected to Ugwuoke. Abraham acted as a recruiter, bringing her friends to Johannesburg, where they were forced into prostitution and fed drugs daily. Abraham was found guilty of forgery.
The case has been postponed to October 9 for sentencing.
The provincial head of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) in the Northern Cape, Major-General Steven Mabuela, commended his team and the prosecution for their diligent work.
