Pretoria High Court Sentences Nigerian Couple to Life Imprisonment for Human Trafficking, Brothel Operation

A Nigerian couple has been handed lengthy prison sentences following their conviction for human trafficking and operating a brothel.

The Pretoria High Court sentenced 34-year-old Jude Ikenna Ijegulu and his 29-year-old partner, Elizabeth Botes from Centurion in Pretoria.

Ijegulu received two life terms for two counts of rape and an additional two years for being in South Africa illegally.

According to the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), the court also ordered that Ijegulu’s name be added to the National Register of Sexual Offenders.

The National Prosecuting Authority’s Gauteng spokesperson, Lumka Mahanjana, expressed approval of the sentences.
Mahanjana stated, “From November 2016 to September 2017, the couple operated a brothel in Centurion where they kept two women. Ijegulu raped the women, supplied them with drugs, and physically and sexually assaulted them.”

The couple also coerced the two victims into providing sexual services to clients. The judge concluded that the couple violated the Human Trafficking Act, enslaving the victims and drugging them.