A Nigerian nurse, based in UK, has been convicted for
trafficking girls to Europe for prostitution.
The BBC News on June
26, announced the arrest of Josephine Iyamu aka Madam Sandra, agency nurse.
She
was convicted of trafficking girls from Benin to Germany as sex slaves. She was
arrested at the airport on her return to London.
She
was a nurse in the day and human trafficker otherwise. She was running for
election into the Edo State House of Assembly under the umbrella of All Progressive
Congress (APC). She was running for election on a ticket for women's rights, same
group of people whose human rights she violated.
It would be recalled that operatives of the National
Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Person (NAPTIP) and National
Crimes Agency (NCA) had during a joint operation tagged “Operation REDROOT”, arrested
Iyamu under the joint counter trafficking project called Joint Border Task
Force (JBTF) and charged her before a Birmingham Court.
The operation was carried out by NAPTIP in partnership
with the British government.
With the latest development, Iyamu has become the first
person to be convicted under new modern slavery laws, after being found guilty of
trafficking five Nigerian women to Germany to work as prostitutes.
Iyamu was
prosecuted under the Modern Slavery Act involving victims who have no
connection to the UK but have been victimised by a British national.
Jurors were told the 51-year-old Liberia-born British
citizen forced the women to swear oaths to hand over money to her during “juju”
ceremonies.
These included forcing women to eat chicken hearts, drink
blood containing worms, and have powder rubbed into cuts, the court heard.
Iyamu, formerly of Bermondsey in London, then arranged
for the women to be trafficked across the Mediterranean, with one being told to
pay a “bill” of €37,000 (£32,700).
She was convicted at Birmingham crown court of five
counts of arranging or facilitating travel for sexual exploitation.
Prosecutors said the Voodoo rituals gave Iyamu crushing
psychological control over the women, who were too afraid to challenge her or
to fail to pay her back tens of thousands of euros she charged them to be
trafficked into Germany.
Jurors also convicted Iyamu of perverting the course of
justice by arranging for relatives of the complainants in Nigeria to be
arrested. Her husband, Efe Ali-Imaghodor, 60, was acquitted of doing acts
intending to pervert the course of justice.
The Director-General of NAPTIP, Dame Julie Okah – Donli,
has described the conviction of a British based- nurse, Iyamu as the beginning
of the renewed determination by NAPTIP
to bring all foreign - based human traffickers to justice irrespective of their
location around the world.
The NAPTIP boss stated further that the Agency in
collaboration with other foreign partners and precisely the law enforcement
agencies, shall continue to smoke out the suspected human trafficking and make
them to face justice just like their counterparts in Nigeria.
NAPTIP DG said that the conviction of Iyamu will serve as
a deterrent to other traffickers who believe that they will be protected
outside Nigeria.
She said. “I am particularly happy that justice has been
secured in this case. Our collaboration with the foreign partners has paid off
and it is a warning sign to other trafficker especially those based outside
Nigeria.
“Let them know that distance is no more a barrier to the
operations of NAPTIP as far arrest and prosecution of suspected human
traffickers are concerned.
“As part of our renewed determination to root out human
trafficking from Nigeria, we have strengthened our networking and collaboration
with the relevant sister law enforcement Agencies around the world. This simply
means that there no more a hiding place for any human trafficker around the world.
“I sincerely commend Officers of NAPTIP and our partners
in NCA for this heartwarming development” the NAPTIP boss said.
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