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US court convicts Nigerian couple of forced servitude

Agency reporter

A United States federal jury in Texas has convicted a Nigerian-born couple based in Arlington, Texas, Emmanuel and Ngozi Nnaji, of forcing a widowed Nigerian mother of six into servitude for nine years.

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The US Justice Department said in a statement on Wednesday that a jury found the defendants guilty of conspiracy, forced labour, document servitude, alien harbouring and false statements. Ngozi and Emmanuel Nnaji each face a maximum sentence of up to 55 years in prison.

According to the evidence at trial, the couple enticed the widow to come to the US to be their domestic servant by falsely promising a salary and support for her children, whom she was struggling to support.

The defendants procured fraudulent immigration documents, confiscated the victim's documents, harboured her in their home and compelled her to work long hours with no days off for little or no pay. They also used a scheme to isolate her and restrict her communications, withheld her documents and pay and refused her requests to return home or be paid.

Court documents also said the couple failed to provide support for the victim's six children in Nigeria, limited and monitored contacts with her family in Nigeria, isolated her from normal society in the United States, and refused to allow her to regularly attend church. According to the evidence at trial, Emmanuel sexually assaulted the victim and made her too scared to call the police.

A statement quoted Assistant Attorney-General for the Civil Rights Division, Thomas E. Perez, as saying, "Holding other human beings in servitude against their will is a violation of human rights that will not be tolerated in our free society. This prosecution demonstrates our commitment to combating human trafficking in all its forms, vindicating the rights of trafficking victims and bringing human traffickers to justice."