{"id":5457,"date":"2019-04-14T22:42:34","date_gmt":"2019-04-14T22:42:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/ng\/?p=5457"},"modified":"2019-04-14T22:42:34","modified_gmt":"2019-04-14T22:42:34","slug":"sicilys-nigerian-sex-trafficking-leaders-busted-lure-15-underage-girls-into-prostitution-from-nigeria-via-libya-into-italy-police-identifies-rita-ihama-38-and-monica-onaigfohe-20-as-brains-be","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/sicilys-nigerian-sex-trafficking-leaders-busted-lure-15-underage-girls-into-prostitution-from-nigeria-via-libya-into-italy-police-identifies-rita-ihama-38-and-monica-onaigfohe-20-as-brains-be\/","title":{"rendered":"Sicily’s Nigerian Sex Trafficking leaders busted…Lure 15 Underage Girls into Prostitution from Nigeria via Libya into Italy *Police identifies RITA IHAMA, 38, and MONICA ONAIGFOHE, 20, as brains behind the cartel * Investigators track an Italian national, Giovanni Buscemi for helping to exploit girls * 16,000 Nigerian women arrived in Italy from Libya between 2016-2017-INVESTIGATION * ‘We were all forced to have sex without condom with older men as the age of our father. Our traveling passports were seized and we were all threatened daily’-Cries 14 year old Ose Aimagbon * \u201cOn arrival in Italy, the women [say they] were forced into prostitution and told they must pay back the cost of their travel to Italy\u201d-Giovannella Scaminaci, deputy chief prosecutor in Messina BY THORPE KATE, CRIME REPORTER, ITALY"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\nSicily’s\nNigerian Sex Trafficking leaders busted<\/strong>…Lure\n15 Underage Girls into Prostitution from Nigeria via Libya into Italy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n*Police\nidentifies RITA IHAMA, 38, and MONICA ONAIGFOHE, 20, as brains behind\nthe cartel<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n*\nInvestigators track an Italian national, Giovanni Buscemi for helping\nto exploit girls<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n*\n16,000 Nigerian women arrived in Italy from Libya between\n2016-2017-INVESTIGATION<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n*\n‘We were all forced to have sex without condom with older men as the\nage of our father. Our traveling passports were seized and we were\nall threatened daily’-Cries 14 year old Ose Aimagbon<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n*\n\u201cOn arrival in Italy, the women [say they] were forced into\nprostitution and told they must pay back the cost of their travel to\nItaly\u201d-Giovannella Scaminaci, deputy chief prosecutor in\nMessina<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nBY\nTHORPE KATE, CRIME REPORTER, ITALY<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nTHE\nRINGLEADERS CALL THEMSLVES QUEENS, MADAMS, DRIVE EXPENSIVE CARS, STAY\nIN LUXURIOUS MANSIONS. RITA IHAMA and MONICA ONAIGFOGHE, in the ages\nof 38 and 20 years are the faces behind numerous sex trafficking\ncrimes involving underage girls being brought deceitfully from\nNigeria into Sicily, Italy in the name of \u201coffering non-existent\nlucrative jobs Abroad for these girls\u201d, but coerced to sleep with\nmen old enough to be their (the girls’ father and grand father age). \n<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n In\nthe course of forcing these Nigerian girls brought from Benin City,\nEdo state into prostitution, one of the Nigerian girls (Ibhade\nEdegbe) who could not bear the pain any longer confided her ordeal in\none of the clients sent by the ringleaders to her for sexual\npleasures. Touched by the circumstance, the client who happened to be\nan Italian detective lodged an official complaint with the Italian\nauthorities. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nSicilian\nofficial confirmed they have made a series of arrests after a\nsuspected sex trafficking ring was believed to have forced at least\n15 Nigerian girls into prostitution in Italy. Among those arrested\nwere two Nigerian women, Rita Ihama and Monica Onaigfohe who police\nbelieve organised the trafficking of the women from Libya to Italy.\nAn Italian national, Giovanni Buscemi, was also arrested on suspicion\nof helping facilitate the trafficking and exploitation of the girls. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nProsecutors\nbelieve the group of young women were lured from Nigeria with the\npromise of work in Italy. They say before they left their homes they\nwere made to undergo traditional oath-taking ceremonies involving\ncomplicated and frightening rituals. The use of \u201cjuju\u201d ceremonies\nin the trafficking of women from Nigeria to Europe are widespread and\nhave been found to have a profound psychological impact on victims. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\u201cOn\narrival in Italy, the women [say they] were forced into prostitution\nand told they must pay back the cost of their travel to Italy,\u201d\nsaid Giovannella Scaminaci, deputy chief prosecutor in Messina, who\nled the operation. She said that sex trafficking operations between\nNigeria, Libya and Italy are highly organised and continue despite\nrecent attempts to stem the flow of migration from north Africa to\nEurope. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\u201cThere\nis an industry in the exploitation of girls from the age of 14 who\nhave all become terrorised and controlled through the use of these\njuju ceremonies,\u201d she says. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nYesterday,\nSicilian prosecutors in Catania also arrested 19 Nigerians suspected\nof belonging to the Supreme Vikings Confraternity, an organised crime\ngroup operational across Sicily. The men are accused of drug\nsmuggling and the rape and sexual assault of Nigerian women in Cara\ndi Mineo, one of Italy\u2019s largest reception centres for refugees.\nProsecutors told the Guardian that they were considering the\npossibility that the men arrested were raping women at the centre\n\u201cwith the aim of subjugating them and preparing them for\nprostitution\u2019\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


About\n16,000 Nigerian women arrived in Italy from Libya between 2016-2017.\nAccording to the at UN’s International Office for Migration (IOM) \nmore than 80% of them were victims of trafficking, destined for a\nlife of prostitution on street corners and in brothels across Italy\nand Europe. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\nrecent weeks hundreds of people have been removed from reception\ncentres across Italy as part of the populist government\u2019s hardline\nimmigration measures. The moves come as a part of a concerted push to\nimplement the \u201cSalvini decree\u201d-named after Italy\u2019s interior\nminister Matteo Salvini. It abolishes humanitarian protection for\nthose not eligible for refugee status, and was passed by the Italian\ngovernment last year. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As\na result hundreds of asylum seekers are now at risk of homelessness.\nNGOs and aid agencies, including the Red Cross, have warned that\nvictims of sex trafficking are among those evicted. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf\nthis is true then the decree has been misinterpreted by local\nauthorities,\u201d says Scaminaci. \u201cNigerian women victims of sex\ntrafficking must always be granted a humanitarian permit or a refugee\nstatus because of the consequences they could face if deported back\nin Nigeria.\u201d \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last\nDecember, Blessing, a\n31-year-old Nigerian woman who was trafficked into prostitution in\nItaly, said she had been removed from a reception centre in Isola di\nCapo Rizzuto, in Calabria. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen\nthe police came to tell us that we couldn\u2019t stay there any more, I\ncouldn\u2019t believe my ears,\u201d she said. \u201cThey took all of our\nbelongings and escorted us out. There was a young girl in our group.\nThis is outrageous. I have a legal permit to stay. And soon I may not\nhave a roof over my head. I\u2019m really frightened.\u201d \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Father\nEnzo Volpe, a Salesian priest in Palermo who has been providing\nassistance to Nigerian women for seven years, says that the clearing\nof reception centres is likely to increase the risk of further\ntrafficking and exploitation. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLeaving\nthese girls in the street, victims of sex trafficking, is not only\ninhumane, it also means facilitating the work of criminal\norganisations,\u201d he said. \u201cWith no protection, these girls risk\nbecoming easy prey.\u201d \n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sicily’s Nigerian Sex Trafficking leaders busted…Lure 15 Underage Girls into Prostitution from Nigeria via Libya into Italy *Police identifies RITA IHAMA, 38, and MONICA ONAIGFOHE, 20, as brains behind the cartel * Investigators track an Italian national, Giovanni Buscemi for helping to exploit girls * 16,000 Nigerian women arrived in Italy from Libya between 2016-2017-INVESTIGATION […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5458,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[105],"tags":[129,130],"class_list":{"0":"post-5457","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-crime","8":"tag-africa","9":"tag-nigeria-2"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5457","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5457"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5457\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5458"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}