A London-based nurse has been jailed for trafficking Nigerian women into Germany to work as prostitutes after subjecting them to “voodoo” rituals.
Josephine Iyamu forced the five women to swear oaths to hand over money to her during “juju” ceremonies.
Iyamu, 51, formerly of Bermondsey, was convicted of arranging or facilitating travel for sexual exploitation and perverting the course of justice.
She was jailed for 14 years at Birmingham Crown Court.
The court heard the women were forced to eat chicken hearts, drink blood containing worms, and have powder rubbed into cuts during the rituals.
Sentencing, Judge Richard Bond said the 51-year-old had shown “a complete disregard for the welfare of these women”.
He said she had exposed them to a “real and significant” risk of death as they travelled across the Mediterranean on inflatable boats.
Iyamu was born in Liberia but became a British citizen in 2009 having been allowed to stay in the UK due to her nursing qualifications.
She was known to have declared a modest income of about £4,500 in 2016/17 from her work as an NHS agency nurse.
However, investigators discovered she spent thousands on international air travel and owned a large home in Benin City, Nigeria, complete with servants’ quarters.
Her husband, 60-year-old Efe Ali-Imaghodor, was acquitted of doing acts intending to pervert the course of justice.
By: Susan Amoako Agyemang
