Human trafficking: Court denies bail to Nigerian man accused of forcing woman and teenage girl into prostitution in South Africa

A 38-year-old Nigerian man, Adeyefa Adedamola Adetoye has been denied bail by the Kimberley District Court in the Northern Cape, South Africa.

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Northern Cape Division spokesperson, Mojalefa Senokoatsane, who disclosed this in a statement on Friday, December 1, 2023, aid Adetoye is facing charges of human trafficking, assault, rape, and compelled rape, possession of illegal drugs as well as being an illegal immigrant. 

During his arrest at one of the chain motels in Kimberley, two victims were found in his room. 

The victims, a 17-year-old teenage girl and a 29-year-old woman informed the police that they had been trafficked from the city of Johannesburg in Gauteng to the city of Kimberley in the Northern Cape. 

That they had been locked in the hotel room and prostituted as sex workers by the accused. The police also found illegal drugs in the room belonging to the accused during their search.

During his bail application, the court heard that the accused who is from Nigeria, does not have legal papers to be in South Africa as his permit expired in 2018. That he did not have a fixed address where he could be located and that he could be a flight risk. 

The court also heard how the victims were lured by the accused and trafficked and exploited for sex work from one place to another. The case has been postponed to 30 January 2024, and the accused will be remanded in custody until his next court appearance.

Investigations led by the Directorate Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI) are continuing in this matter. The National Prosecuting Authority welcomes this decision by the Kimberley District Court to deny the accused bail as the country continues to celebrate 16 Days of Activism.