Nigerian Man In Hot Soup Over Forced Labour Of Girl

Sunday Agosin, a 25-year-old man, has been dragged to court.

The man was on Wednesday arraigned before a Magistrate’s court sitting in the Yaba area of Lagos State for allegedly sending off a girl, Christiana Madetonhou, to Abuja as a house help without the consent of her parents.

Agosin was arraigned before Magistrate, L. Y. Linda on a two counts charge preferred against him by the Lagos State Police Command.

The PUNCH correspondent gathered that one Damian Sossou contacted the defendant to provide him with house help and Agosin, in turn, spoke to Paul (surname unknown) demanding house help.

It was further gathered that Paul, a supposed uncle to the victim, not knowing the defendant’s intention, after the phone call with him, travelled to Cotonou in Benin Republic and brought Madetonhou, and handed her to Agosim who then sent her to Abuja to be a house help to Sossou.

But when the girl’s number was no longer going through, Paul reported it to the police who then arrested Agosin.

The police prosecutor, ASP Chekwube Okeh, told the court that the defendant committed the offence sometime in December 2022.

According to Okeh, the offence committed is punishable under Sections 411 and 168(d) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2015.

The charge read in part, “That you Sunday Agosin and others still at large sometime in December 2022, at Makoko, Yaba, Lagos, in the Lagos Magisterial did conspire together by taking one Christiana Madetonhou for servitude purpose without her parents consent and there by committee an offence contrary to Section 411 of the Criminal law of Lagos State 2015.”

However,  the defendant pleaded not guilty to the charges preferred against him.

The magistrate granted him bail in the sum of N2,000,000 with two sureties in like sum and adjourned the case till April 26, 2023, for mention.