Nigerian couple sentenced to life in prison for trafficking and running a brothel in South Africa

A couple have been sentenced to lengthy prison terms after being convicted of human trafficking and operating a brothel.

The 34-year-old Nigerian national, Jude Ikenna Ijegulu, and his 29-year-old partner, Elizabeth Botes, from Centurion in Pretoria, were convicted in the Pretoria High Court.

Additionally, Ijegulu was sentenced to two life sentences for two counts of rape and an additional two years for staying in the country illegally.

This was reported by the South Africa Broadcasting Corporation.

SABC News reported on Saturday that the court had ordered his name to be added to the national sex offender register.

Gauteng National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana said she welcomed the convictions.

He said: “From November 2016 to September 2017, the two men ran a brothel in Centurion where they kept two women. The man raped the two women, supplied them with drugs and physically and sexually assaulted them.

The couple would also ask the two victims to provide sexual services to their clients. The judge concluded that the two men had violated the human trafficking law. The man enslaved the two victims and gave them drugs.

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