The trafficking first came
to light when Border Agency officials stopped two groups, one in September and
one in November 2011, travelling on false passports, Isleworth Crown Court heard.
Although Franca Asemota was
not arrested at the time, Asemota’s ticket had been booked at the same time, at
the same travel agent in Lagos, and she was sat next to the group on the plane.
The female trafficking boss
used witchcraft to round up and terrify dozens of teenage orphans from Nigeria
before selling them into prostitution in Europe, a court heard on Tuesday.
Franca Asemota, known to her
victims as ‘Auntie Franca’, used Heathrow as a hub to traffic at least 40
children and young adults into Europe, a jury was told. It was also claimed
that Franca and her gang managed to snatch back two girls who had been rescued
and put in foster care in Worthing, East Sussex.
She is accused of luring
mainly orphans from remote Nigerian villages with the promise of jobs and
education. But the 38-year-old would then use witchcraft, threats, ‘Ju-Ju’
rituals and sexual violence to ensure they did as they were told before being
sold to the sex industry in Europe, it was said.
According to Mailonline,
investigators then linked Asemota to six other ‘successful trafficking trips’
and the kidnapping of two girls who had been placed in foster care on the south
coast, it was said.
The two girls were spirited
out of the country to Spain but one girl’s fake passport was spotted and she
was returned back to Britain.
This allowed investigators
to trace Asemota to Nigeria from where she was deported to face trial.
Wearing a pink jumper with
her hair tied back, she wept in the dock as Paul Cabin outlined the
prosecution’s case.
Mr Cabin said the three
people were first stopped at Heathrow and added: ‘They held consecutively
issued tickets and were all carrying passports that stated they were all over
the age of 18. The passports were suspected to be false. They were refused
permission to board the aircraft and were arrested on suspicion of identity
card offences. Asemota was travelling on the same Air France flight, but was
not stopped or apprehended.’
On a later flight in
November, a male and a female passenger were also stopped.
Mr Cabin said: ‘Asemota was
booked on the same flight and was also detained because the authorities were
able to see that all of their tickets had been booked at the same time. She
denied any involvement and was eventually released.
The two passengers detained
at Heathrow were arrested and both were interviewed under caution. Both were
charged and prosecuted, initially. The male was subsequently deported back to
Nigeria. The girl was in fact revealed to be just 14 years old. She eventually
told the prison authorities her real age and proceedings against her were
discontinued and she was placed in the care of social services.
All five victims, from both
trips, eventually gave video or audio recorded accounts to the UK authorities.
They all came from remote Nigerian villages and had all been told that they
were going to be educated, trained, employe in France. They all had difficult
histories – for example, some were orphans. One was a runaway from an attempted
forced marriage.
All but one reported at the
time that they had been trafficked by a female who accompanied them on the
aircraft from Lagos, known variously as Auntie Franca or Violet.’
Mr Cabin told the court
that some victims were ‘told they could be trainee hairdressers.’
It was only when they had
travelled ‘a long way from their villages were they told they were really
destined for a life of prostitution,’ jurors heard.
In interview the girl
explained that on the day of their disappearance her friend had been taking a
lot of phone calls before they were picked up by two men in a car.
They were given new phones
and detectives saw the girl’s had been in contact with a man who was arrested.
His phone contained contact
details for Asemota.
Mr
Cabin said: ‘From
2012, the investigation team concentrated on trying to track down Asemota. They
achieved their goal in 2015, when it was discovered that she was in Nigeria. An
extradition warrant was issued to the Nigerian authorities and the defendant
was arrested on March 25, 2015 in Nigeria. She was extradited to the UK on
January 27, 2016.’
Jose Olivares-Chandler,
defending, said that Asemota believed she was acting as a ‘chaperone’.
Mr Olivares-Chandler said:
The defendant accepts that she was a passenger on the flights with the victims
on a number of occasions.
‘But she says she was
accompanying the complainants from Nigeria to the UK and was a mere chaperone.
She thought they were travelling for the first time to the UK to join their
families.’
Mr Olivares-Chandler said
his client had never met the victims before the flight.
He added that in relation
to the kidnapping Asemota was contacted by one of the girls and believed she
was helping with her immigration application.
He said: ‘The defendant was
unaware of any alleged wrong-doing.’
Asemota denies nine counts
of conspiracy to traffic persons for sexual exploitation, two counts of
trafficking persons out of the UK for sexual exploitation, and three counts of
assisting unlawful immigration. The trial continues.
Source
UK Dailymail
UK Dailymail
Nigerians I salute una
ReplyDeleteEti won ti dii
ReplyDelete