A London-based nurse has been found guilty of trafficking five Nigerian women to Germany to work as prostitutes – after forcing them to undergo humiliating voodoo rituals.
Josephine Iyamu made her victims swear oaths to hand over money during “juju” ceremonies which saw them ordered to eat chicken hearts, drink blood containing worms, and endure powder being rubbed into cuts.
Iyamu, 51, formerly of Wilson Grove, Bermondsey, was convicted of five counts of arranging or facilitating travel for sexual exploitation after a 10-week trial at Birmingham Crown Court.
Jurors also convicted the Liberia-born British citizen of perverting the course of justice by arranging for relatives of the complainants in Nigeria to be arrested.
Sentencing in the case – the first in England and Wales in which a British citizen has been prosecuted for sex trafficking offences committed outside the UK – will take place next Wednesday.