Woman found guilty of people trafficking afterforcing two Nigerian women into prostitution bymaking them eat snakes

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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