A steep rise in the number of Nigerian prostitutes working in Italy is being linked to the arrival in the country of well-organized Nigerian mafias, which are using violence and religious rites to terrify trafficked women into submission, police say.
Police say their operations this year have revealed the presence in Italy of a host of Nigerian gangs with names such as the Black Axe, the Vikings, the Buccaneers, the Eiye and the Maphites. The gangs have arrived in Italy as the number of Nigerian women sailing to the country from Libya has risen from 1, in to 10, between January and the end of November. The latter was said to be responsible for singling out errant members for machete attacks. Women are usually fooled into believing they will be given regular jobs in Europe by traffickers who stage voodoo rites in which the women promise to pay back the cost of their travel, authorities said.
The police official said former prostitutes often manage the women, but mafia members are on hand to punish them if they try to escape.
Anna, 40, who declined to give her last name because of the sensitivity of the topic, said she was forced into prostitution for three years after being told by traffickers she would pick fruit in Italy. She said she was warned that her mother in Nigeria would be hurt if she fled. Fabio Sorgoni, an official with the charity On the Road, which helps prostitutes in Italy, said Italian men are attracted by the youth and low price of the women.
Police in Palermo first learned about the Black Axe mafia in , when member Austine Johnbull was arrested after inflicting serious face wounds with an axe on a rival from another Nigerian gang.
