Witchcraft people smuggler jailed in UK

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A Nigerian people smuggler who used witchcraft rituals to force children to work as sex slaves has been jailed for 20 years.

Osezua Osolase, 42, tricked poverty-stricken Nigerian orphans into travelling to the UK with the promise of a better life.

But the young victims were raped, sexually abused and subjected to voodoo-style rituals by a child trafficking ring.

Osolase, the linchpin of a multi-million pound global sex trafficking ring, used "juju" magic to control his victims.

He told the teenage girls they would die or never bear children if they tried to escape or revealed what had happened to them.

Judge Adele Williams told Osolase: "You are arrogant and manipulative, you are devoid of conscience, devoid of any compassion to your victims. You were dealing in exploitation and misery and degradation. You have been convicted on clear and compelling evidence of trafficking two girls in and out of the UK.

"Once they arrived in the UK the reality was explained to them that they were going to have to work as prostitutes.

"They were petrified that if they spoke out they would be harmed and killed."

During the trial it emerged that Osolase raped one of the young girls knowing he had HIV. Judge Williams described this as a "seriously aggravating" feature to his crimes.

At Canterbury Crown Court, Osolase was convicted of five counts of trafficking for sexual exploitation, one of rape and one of sexual activity with a child.

The charges relate to three girls aged 14, 16, and 17. One was raped and all three endured juju rituals, including one conducted by Osolase himself.

One feared she was being taken to another country to be used as a human sacrifice. Osolase slashed the chest of his youngest victim with a razor and rubbed black powder into her bleeding wounds.

On the surface, Osolase was a recycling worker living in a terraced house in Gravesend, Kent. But his home was a secret staging post for vulnerable teenage orphans as they were smuggled from Africa, via Britain, to several European countries.

Detectives discovered evidence that at least 28 victims were smuggled in and out of Britain over a 14-month period, earning him up to £1.5 million.

- The Daily Mail