JUSTICE
James Tsoho of the Federal High Court in Lagos Tuesday dismissed an
application seeking to quash an order, forfeiting a brothel to the
National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Person (NAPTIP).
The application was filed by two brothers, Taofeek and Lukman Jubril, asking the court to set aside an earlier judgment by Justice Tijani Abubakar, which ordered NAPTIP to confiscate their property.
Justice Tsoho, in his judgment, upheld the decision of his brother judge and struck out the application for lack of merit. “I hereby uphold the order granted by the former trial judge and order the premises located at No 1. Anjorin Odoguyan St., to be forfeited to the respondent. “This application is accordingly struck out for lack of merit”, Tsoho ruled. The said brothel premises is located at No. 1, Anjorin Odoguyan St., Ikorodu, Lagos.
Justice Abubakar had sometime in June 2007, sentenced three convicts for using the said premises as a brothel. The convicts, Helen Elele, Joshua Igborobe and Uyi Oni, in case file No. FHC/L/138/2007, were charged with two counts bordering on conspiracy and human trafficking. The prosecutor, Mr. Olurotimi Illori, had told the court that the convicts were in the habit of indulging young girls for prostitution and using the said premises as a chalet to promote their illegal acts. The convicts had each pleaded guilty to the charge and were consequently convicted and sentenced to five years’ imprisonment each. Abubakar had then ordered the brothel to be sealed off and forfeited to NAPTIP.
After the transfer of Justice Abubakar from the Lagos division of the court, the applicants then filed an application before Tsoho, the new judge, to set aside Abubakar’s judgment.
The brothers, through their counsel, Mr. Ali Jamiu, had argued that the said property belonged to their late father, Mr. Mustapha Jubril, and not to the convicts. According to them, after the death of their father, the property vested on them as of right, and so, NAPTIP had no right to confiscate it even though the convicts were arrested there. They had, therefore, prayed the court to set aside the order.
Tsoho, in his judgment, however, affirmed the submissions of his brother judge and upheld the order, allowing NAPTIP to confiscate the said premises. The offence contravenes the provisions of Section 15 (a) of the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Law Enforcement and Administration Act of 2003 (as amended).
It attracts a penalty of 14 years’ imprisonment without an option of fine.
http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=122383:court-upholds-forfeiture-order-on-brothel-over-human-trafficking-&catid=1:national&Itemid=559
The application was filed by two brothers, Taofeek and Lukman Jubril, asking the court to set aside an earlier judgment by Justice Tijani Abubakar, which ordered NAPTIP to confiscate their property.
Justice Tsoho, in his judgment, upheld the decision of his brother judge and struck out the application for lack of merit. “I hereby uphold the order granted by the former trial judge and order the premises located at No 1. Anjorin Odoguyan St., to be forfeited to the respondent. “This application is accordingly struck out for lack of merit”, Tsoho ruled. The said brothel premises is located at No. 1, Anjorin Odoguyan St., Ikorodu, Lagos.
Justice Abubakar had sometime in June 2007, sentenced three convicts for using the said premises as a brothel. The convicts, Helen Elele, Joshua Igborobe and Uyi Oni, in case file No. FHC/L/138/2007, were charged with two counts bordering on conspiracy and human trafficking. The prosecutor, Mr. Olurotimi Illori, had told the court that the convicts were in the habit of indulging young girls for prostitution and using the said premises as a chalet to promote their illegal acts. The convicts had each pleaded guilty to the charge and were consequently convicted and sentenced to five years’ imprisonment each. Abubakar had then ordered the brothel to be sealed off and forfeited to NAPTIP.
After the transfer of Justice Abubakar from the Lagos division of the court, the applicants then filed an application before Tsoho, the new judge, to set aside Abubakar’s judgment.
The brothers, through their counsel, Mr. Ali Jamiu, had argued that the said property belonged to their late father, Mr. Mustapha Jubril, and not to the convicts. According to them, after the death of their father, the property vested on them as of right, and so, NAPTIP had no right to confiscate it even though the convicts were arrested there. They had, therefore, prayed the court to set aside the order.
Tsoho, in his judgment, however, affirmed the submissions of his brother judge and upheld the order, allowing NAPTIP to confiscate the said premises. The offence contravenes the provisions of Section 15 (a) of the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Law Enforcement and Administration Act of 2003 (as amended).
It attracts a penalty of 14 years’ imprisonment without an option of fine.
http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=122383:court-upholds-forfeiture-order-on-brothel-over-human-trafficking-&catid=1:national&Itemid=559
No comments:
Post a Comment