Nigerian Woman Jailed For Trafficking In US

A Nigerian woman was sentenced to more than 11 years in jail on Thursday in a human trafficking case involving two young women from her home country, US justice officials said in a statement.

Bidemi Bello, 42, formerly of Suwanee, Georgia, was convicted in June of charges including forced labour, trafficking with respect to forced labour, document servitude and harbouring for financial gain.

She was also found guilty of procuring naturalised US citizenship unlawfully and has been ordered to leave the United States when she is eventually freed.

“This case is nothing short of shocking,” said Sally Quillian Yates, a US Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, in the statement.

“Bello enslaved two young women through physical abuse, false promises, and threats of jail made to them and their families.”

She was “sentenced to 140 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release,” the statement said, adding she was also ordered to be deported from the United States once she has completed her term.

“This sentencing closes the door on a shocking case of modern day slavery,” added Brock Nicholson, an official with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The trial heard that on two separate occasions, Bello returned to her home country of Nigeria and recruited two young women to return with her to the United States to work as her nanny and maid.

Bello had promised the young women and their families that she would send them to school in the United States, according to the justice department.

She also promised to pay a salary to one of the young women in exchange for her services, but did not keep her word.

Instead, Bello physically and emotionally abused both young women, controlled their access to the outside world, and routinely treated them inhumanely, according to justice officials.

Testimony at trial from the victims described the degrading treatment they received at the hands of Bello.

“If Bello decided the house was not clean enough, she beat them,” the statement said.