MULLINGAR: The court found two women guilty in a case related to human trafficking and prostitution in Mullingar. Two Nigerian women have been arrested in connection with a prostitution ring from a base in Mullingar. They were also found to be involved in human trafficking crimes. This is thought to be the first such conviction in the history of Ireland.
Mullingar Circuit Criminal Court found Alicia Edosa (44) and Edith Enoghaghase (31) guilty on two counts of trafficking women into Ireland between September 2016 and June 2018 in violation of the Criminal Law (Human Trafficking) Act 2008.
A jury of 10 men and two women found Edosa not guilty on two other counts of human trafficking. However, she is involved in prostitution as well as a number of money laundering offenses. Enoghaghase’s husband, Omonuwa Desmond Osaighbovo (30), has been found guilty of four money laundering offences. He has not pleaded guilty to a total of 63 crimes.
The lawsuit alleges that four women were forced into prostitution in Ireland. The defendants’ attorney claimed that the victims in the case are making fake human trafficking allegations against the defendants in order to gain the right to remain in Ireland. Counsel also alleged that they had voluntarily decided to work as prostitutes.
One of the victims said in court that she was trafficked into Ireland on the promise of Edosa that she could earn up to €3,500 per month working as a shop assistant. But within days of arriving in Ireland she was forced into prostitution. The 26-year-old, who is also a mother of one, said Edosa had betrayed her.
She said she was raped in Tripoli and went through immigration at Dublin Airport using a fake Irish passport. Edosa had seized €44,000 from the woman’s earnings and threatened to kill her son and entire family in Nigeria if she did not comply.
The victim told the court that she was like a sex machine and money-making machine for her. The young woman said she would never have left Nigeria if she had known she would have to live as a prostitute in Ireland. They were taken to Limerick, Cork, Galway, Castlebar, Navan, Athlone, Letterkenny, Cavan and Dundalk to ‘work’.
Both Edosa and Enoghaghase were remanded in custody by Judge Francis Comerford until a sentencing hearing later this year.
Garda Superintendent Dermot Drea, who investigated the case, expressed hope that the convictions would encourage other victims and people to come forward with information about the crime. He also praised the courage and perseverance of the victims.
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