The Gauteng High Court in Pretoria, South Africa, on Wednesday, upheld the conviction and 18-year jail term of Nigerian national, Chinedu Justice Obasi, who was found guilty of human trafficking and entering into a fraudulent marriage to secure residency.

According to Independent News Eswatini, Obasi was convicted in December 2017 on three counts and handed his sentence in September 2018.

The charges included two counts of harbouring women for exploitation and one count of fraudulent marriage.

Court records seen by the news platform showed that between April and September 2016, Obasi harboured two women, identified as Busisiwe and Puleng, at a flat in Pretoria, where he allegedly forced them into prostitution.

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He was said to have taken their earnings, supplied them with drugs, and restricted their movements, monitoring them constantly to prevent escape.

The fraudulent marriage charge dated back to 2005, when Obasi married a South African woman but failed to live with her, with the court ruling that the union was contracted solely to obtain legal residency.

According to the case file, Busisiwe met Obasi in December 2015, while Puleng was introduced to him through Busisiwe in May 2016. Both women eventually ended up under the control of Obasi and his co-accused, who continued their exploitation.

On appeal, Obasi argued that the trial court overlooked his personal circumstances and failed to properly consider evidence.

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However, the presiding Judge Graham Moshoana dismissed the claims, stressing that Obasi never testified in his defence.

Judge Moshoana described the case as a clear instance of modern-day slavery.

He said, “Human trafficking exists because people are vulnerable to exploitation due to poverty, lack of education and desperation.

“Victims are often abused, confused and disoriented. People are trafficked for sex, labour and other related reasons.”

With the ruling, Obasi will continue to serve his 18-year prison term.

Police in Tripoli, Libya, have arrested two Nigerians for allegedly carrying out a series of robberies in the city.

The suspects, both undocumented migrants, were arrested on August 25 after they were captured on CCTV robbing a convenience store.

Migrant Rescue Watch, an organisation that monitors migrant activities, disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday.

READ ALSO:Four Nigerians Arrested In Libya As Police Raid House Allegedly Used For Prostitution

According to the group, the suspects had allegedly been responsible for multiple break-ins and robberies targeting commercial stores with the intent of seizing cash.

The statement said, “Police in Tripoli arrested 2 undocumented #migrants of Nigerian nationality responsible for series of break and entries and robberies. The accused were targeting commercial stores with the intent of seizing cash. The case was referred to public prosecutor.”

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The head of Save the Children described in horrific detail on Wednesday the slow agony of starving children in Gaza, saying they are so weak they do not even cry.

Addressing a Security Council meeting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the president of the international charity, Inger Ashing, said famine — declared by the UN last week to be happening in Gaza — is not just a dry technical term.

“When there is not enough food, children become acutely malnourished, and then they die slowly and painfully. This, in simple terms, is what famine is,” said Ashing.

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She went on to describe what happens when children die of hunger over the course of several weeks, as the body first consumes its own fat to survive, and when that is gone, literally consumes itself as it eats muscles and vital organs.

“Yet our clinics are almost silent. Now, children do not have the strength to speak or even cry out in agony. They lie there, emaciated, quite literally wasting away,” said Ashing.

She insisted that aid groups have been warning loudly that famine was coming as Israel prevented food and other essentials from entering Gaza over the course of two years of war triggered by the Hamas attack of October 2023.

READ ALSO:42 Killed In Israeli Attacks, Says Gaza’s Civil Defense

“Everyone in this room has a legal and moral responsibility to act to stop this atrocity,” said Ashing.

The United Nations officially declared famine in Gaza on Friday, blaming what it called the systematic obstruction of aid by Israel during more than 22 months of war.

A UN-backed hunger monitor called the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Initiative said famine was affecting 500,000 people in the Gaza governorate, which covers about a fifth of the Palestinian territory, including Gaza City.

The IPC projected that the famine would expand by the end of September to cover around two-thirds of Gaza.
AFP