Nigerians arrested in Rome, Brescia, Iceland in vice probe

ANSA

Six Nigerians were arrested in Rome, Brescia and Iceland Friday in a probe into suspected human trafficking and exploiting prostitution, police said Saturday.

Italy’s Nigerian mafia runs many of the prostitution rings around the country.

Police said one girl rebelled against the network of her exploiters who had lured her to Italy with the promise of a job.

During the investigations, other victims were identified, including minors, who in the company of a ‘boga’ magical courier faced a long journey, with physical, psychological and sexual violence, crossing Nigeria, Niger and Libya, from where they then left by sea, on a makeshift vessel, to reach Pozzallo near Ragusa in Sicily.

Once they arrived in Rome, the victims were allegedly forced to prostitute themselves.

If they refused, police said, they were locked in their homes, deprived of food and prevented from having any contact with their family members in Nigeria.

A young girl, who arrived in Italy pregnant, was allegedly forced to take dangerous drugs for the interruption of pregnancy, risking death, in order to make her practice prostitution…