39 Nigerian women trafficked for sex rescued in Spain
A joint operation involving the NCA and Spanish and Nigerian law enforcement partners have freed thirty-nine women from sexual exploitation at the hands of a Nigerian organised crime gang in Spain.
The victims are all Nigerian nationals, according to reports.
Many of the victims are said to be under the age of 18, and they are believed to have undergone ‘Voodoo-Juju’ rituals in Nigeria to ensure they comply with orders given by the gang leaders.
They were then moved by boat to Libya and Italy, before arriving in Spain.
The women were forced to live in cave-like houses, in very unsafe and unsanitary conditions.
They were also sexually exploited, earning money for the gang leaders in Nigeria.
The money was reportedly laundered through the honour-based Hawala system, popular with organised crime gangs.
Investigators found out the gang had numerous women under their control working as prostitutes. They pay as high as 30,000 euros each to cult members as the cost of being moved to Europe.
The international investigation into an organised criminal network known as the Eiye Confraternity began when a victim made a report to the Spanish authorities, detailing how she arrived in Spain along with a number of other girls.
A statement by UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA), said a “Nigerian Madame living in Middleton, Greater Manchester, believed to be controlling some of the victims in Spain, and paying money to the OCG back in Nigeria,” was among the women caught.
Tom Dowdall, deputy director, modern slavery and human trafficking threat of the NCA, was quoted to have described the sex trafficking as a “complex and extensive operation with deep-rooted organisation both in Nigeria and Spain.
