News Africa Extended

News Africa Extended

Woman gets 22 years for Nigerian sex trade

Posted: 04 Aug 2016 11:46 PM PDT

A woman used the threat of witchcraft to control almost 40 women and girls brought from Nigeria to Europe.

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London - A woman trafficking boss was sentenced to 22 years in prison on Thursday for using the threat of witchcraft to exert control over almost 40 women and girls brought from Nigeria to Europe for sex work, a British court prosecutor said.

Franca Asemota, 38, was found guilty of conspiracy to traffic persons for sexual exploitation, trafficking persons outside of the UK for sexual exploitation, and assisting unlawful migration.

Isleworth Crown Court in west London heard that Asemota was part of a criminal network that trafficked girls, boys and women to Europe, using the threat of "juju magic" and rituals with curses to exert control over her victims.

Prosecutor David Davies said Asemota targeted girls from poor, rural backgrounds with little knowledge of the world, promising them legitimate jobs in Europe between August 2011 and May 2012.

"Only when they were far away from their homes were they told the truth - that they would have to work as prostitutes," Davies said in a statement.

"The girls were told that if they disobeyed their captors or tried to escape, the curse would cause them injury, infertility or even death."

Prosecutions for human trafficking in England and Wales have increased since the introduction of a new anti-slavery law last year, with about 180 people prosecuted between April and December 2015, which prosecutors said was a new record.

The Modern Slavery Act - which came into force in July - increased maximum jail terms for traffickers to life and brought in measures to protect people believed to be at risk of enslavement.

Studies show there are an estimated 13,000 victims of forced labour, sexual exploitation and domestic servitude in Britain.

Globally an estimated 45.8 million people are born into servitude, trafficked for sex work, or trapped in debt bondage or forced labour, according to the 2016 Global Slavery Index by human rights group Walk Free Foundation.

Forced labour generates an estimated $150 billion in illegal profits every year, according to the United Nation's International Labour Organization (ILO).

Thomson Reuters Foundation

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Egypt airstrikes kill IS group head

Posted: 04 Aug 2016 12:51 PM PDT

The Egyptian army says it has killed the head of a Sinai-based militant group affiliated with the Islamic State.

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Cairo - The Egyptian army killed the head of a Sinai-based militant group affiliated with the Islamic State (IS) and dozens of other militants in a massive airstrikes in North Sinai, an Egyptian military spokesman said Thursday.

The security campaign accurately targeted hideouts of the IS-affiliate Sinai State group and managed to kill the group leader known as Abu Duaa al-Ansari and a number of his aides, Brigadier-General Mohamed Samir said in a statement.

Egypt has been battling a growing wave of anti-government terrorism since the military removed former Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013 and later blacklisted his Muslim Brotherhood group.

On Sunday, a police officer was shot dead by unknown militants near a police station in Arish city of restive North Sinai province.

The Sinai-based militant group claimed responsibility for most of the terrorist operations that killed hundreds of police and military men over the past few years.

In response, the Egyptian military has been launching a continuous massive security campaign in the peninsula that left over 1,000 militants killed and a similar number of suspects arrested.

The security raids in the peninsula, mostly in North Siani's cities of Arish, Sheikh Zuweid and Rafah, are part of the country's "war against terrorism" declared by ex-military chief and now President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi following Morsi's removal.

Xinhau

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