24 year old Lizzy Idahosa (pictured left) and her
husband Jackson Omoruyi, 41 (pictured right),
have been found guilty of trafficking in people
after they forced two Nigerian women into
prostitution by making them eat snakes in a black
magic ceremony, UK Daily Mail reports.
Lizzy and Jackson, according to reports, made
more than £70,000 out of the women, who were
made see a witchdoctor for a sinister 'juju'
ceremony.
Jackson was convicted of trafficking the women,
inciting them to become prostitutes and
transferring criminal property, while Lizzy was
found guilty of money laundering. Both are now
facing jail...
From UK Daily Mail
During the couple's trial at Cardiff Crown
Court, the jury was told that the two victims,
aged 23 and 29, had their pubic hair shaved
and forced to eat live snakes and snails as
part of the ritual, and then flown to Britain in
the belief that they were going to find a
better life.
However, when they arrived in the UK they
were put to work as prostitutes, working in
brothels at massage parlours across England
and Wales.
They were told they had to give all the
money they earned to Idahosa, and believed
the black magic curses would make them go
insane or die if they refused.
'The couple were involved in the exploitation
of two women brought into the UK from
Nigeria to work as prostitutes,' said Caroline
Rees, prosecuting, during the trial.
'They were bound to this by something
called a juju ritual. It was a ceremonial ritual
used to full effect to terrify both women into
doing what was demanded of them.
'It was used to ensure compliance, secrecy,
and they believed if they broke the bond dire
consequences would follow: illness,
madness, infertility or death.
'They genuinely believed the powers would
work.'
The offences came to light after police
arrested a 23-year-old Nigerian woman at
the Ambassador Suite brothel in Cardiff, in
June 2013.
She told officers she had been living rough
in Nigeria after her mother died and had
wanted to travel to the UK to find her father.
She had then met a woman, claiming to be
Idahosa’s sister, who promised to make
arrangements for her to travel to London,
and as part of the agreement had to take
part in the ceremony.
'She did not know what was expected of
her,' said Ms Rees, who said the woman had
been able
She was taken to a premises full of women
dressed in their underwear. There was no
explanation as to what was going on but it
soon became clear.'
The woman started to work as a prostitute
and was forced to have sexual intercourse
with seven or eight men every day, working
in brothels across the UK, including in
Cardiff and Swansea.
When interviewed, she claimed she had
given Idahosa £45,000.
The second victim told the court she had
paid the defendants £31,400 over two years
after working in brothels in Cardiff, Swansea,
Barking and East Croydon, and said she had
worked in South Wales for a year and eight
months.
The woman, who like her fellow victim
cannot be named for legal reasons, said she
had stopped working and changed her sim
card so Idahosa could not contact her.
However, within a month she received a
phone call from her mother in Nigeria.
'I had a call from my mum who told me
Lizzy’s people had been to her house and
threatened her,' the victim told the jury.
'Lizzy said if I did not pay her she would kill
my mum and make me go mad.'
Idahosa and Omoruyi, who were arrested at
their home in London, denied any wrong
doing.
But police checked their bank accounts and
found a series of transfers with Omoruyi
acting as a 'financial middle man'.
Idahosa had denied forcing the women to
take part in a black magic ceremony, but
claimed that she herself had been trafficked
into the UK and forced to work as a
prostitute.
She told the jury she did not know the two
women had been trafficked.
'It was only when I told them I was trafficked
into the country that I found out they were
trafficked,' she said.
Idahosa, who is heavily pregnant, said she
made an oath with her trafficker before
leaving Nigeria and was forced to eat the
roast heart of a cockerel.
She said: 'I wouldn’t do the things they say
I did because I’ve been through it.'
The jury was told that cash payments of
several hundred pounds a time had been
deposited into Omoruyi’s account from
locations all over the country, including
Glasgow, Sheffield and Southampton.
Source: Daily Mail UK
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