Nigerian couple forced to flee Northern Ireland home after being found guilty of keeping woman as slave

A Nigerian-Irish couple avoided being sent to jail after being found guilty in the first-ever forced labour slavery case to be tried in Northern Ireland but a mob angered by the crime they committed sacked them from their home.

The husband, 36-year-old Osarobo John Izekor and wife, Precious Izekor, 29, were convicted of holding a Nigerian woman as their slave in their home.

An angry mob attacked their Ashmount Gardens, Lisburn home just hours after they were found guilty at Belfast Crown Court and forced them to flee with their three children in the early hours of the morning.
Windows at the front and back of the property were smashed.

According to a Sunday World report, neighbours described how they packed up their car with as many personal belongings as they could manage and drove off under the watchful eye of PSNI officers who attended the scene.

The residents said they believed the attack was carried out by a mob of teenagers who were high on drink and drugs.

“No one really knows who did it because it was in the middle of the night and it happened so quickly but people wanted them out, that’s for sure.

“What they did to that poor woman was a disgrace and cruel. It was no surprise that the home was attacked when people realised who they were and what crime they had committed,” one neighbour told the Sunday World.

“It’s a disgrace that they only got two years suspended sentence, considering what they did, is that what you call justice?

“When I heard the windows being smashed, I knew who it was. All the neighbours came out and we watched them pack up and leave,” the neighbour said.

Another neighbour was quoted as saying that the couple kept to themselves and never allowed their children to play on the street with other kids.

“They never annoyed anyone, very quiet, you would never have really seen them. The first we all knew about them was when we read it in the paper and saw them on the TV.

“It was a matter of time before something happened. You can’t get away with that type of thing here. Any wonder they kept their heads down but it all came out in the end, you can’t hide something like that no matter how hard you try”.

After being forced from their home, the family declared themselves homeless.

The Izekors were both handed a two-year prison sentence, which was suspended for two years, by Judge Richard Greene QC who ordered them to pay their victim £10,000 in compensation.

The sentencing at Belfast Crown Court marked one of the first cases brought under the Human Trafficking and Exploitation Act (NI) 2015.

The pair admitted that on dates between September 1, 2016, and September 30, 2017, they ‘required another person to perform forced or compulsory labour’.

While the victim was forced to carry out domestic duties, a majority of the criminality by the Izekors was unpaid childcare in their then Castlereagh Place home in Belfast.

As he sentenced the couple, Judge Greene said that whilst it was accepted the Izekors did not physically ill-treat the woman they kept as a domestic slave, they gained financially by not having to pay childcare costs while they worked.

The judge added there was also a financial loss to the victim and spoke of the “exploitation of her in the excessive hours she was required to work – both in childminding and in doing household chores which she ought not to have been asked to perform”.

The victim – who is now 33 – arrived in Northern Ireland in 2011 and worked as a nanny for John Izekor’s sister for five years.

When John Izekor’s sister returned to Nigeria in the Autumn of 2016, the woman moved into Castlereagh Place with John and Precious. During this period, she was kept ignorant of her immigration status and was prevented from having access to her passport and paperwork.

While working for the Izekors, the woman had her room and was given food and clothes but was not paid any money, while a small sum was sent to her family in Nigeria.

When she finally raised the issue of her documents with Precious Izekor, an argument ensued. A few days later, she left the Izekors and went to stay with a friend, who–concerned for the woman–felt she was being exploited and accompanied her to the Home Office.

An investigation was launched which resulted in the involvement of the PSNI and the arrests of John and Precious Izekor, who both admitted the offence.

Crown prosecutor Charles MacCreanor QC said the Probation Board had assessed both husband and wife of presenting a medium risk of re-offending, and both had displayed limited victim awareness.

Mr MacCreanor said John Izekor possessed a “distorted view of the power relationship” between him and the domestic slave, while Precious maintained the view that she was helping the woman out.

Pointing out their offending was “over a protracted period”, the barrister added both John and Precious Izekor “had a good working knowledge of the immigration system and have abused it”.

Gavan Duffy QC, representing Precious Izekor, told Judge Greene that the couple’s Lisburn home was attacked.

He told the court: “Unfortunately last Thursday evening, in the middle of the night, a mob attacked the home of the defendants where they live with their three children.

“Very significant damage was caused to the property. The children were terrified by what was taking place.

“Police officers were called to the scene and the defendants and their children had to be escorted away from their home to a safe place and now, as a consequence of that, they are now homeless.”

Mr Duffy pointed out that his client was not responsible or involved in any way in bringing the woman to the UK. He also said that during the offending period, there were no threats or violence, there has been no further contact with the woman and there has been no further offending in the five years since her arrest.

John Izeokor’s barrister Barry Gibson said his client was a “highly skilled individual” with a degree in Accountancy and two business-related postgraduates.

As the defendant stood in the dock, Judge Greene said: “He is a man who professes to have Christian values.

“How someone can have Christian values and treat someone like this is beyond me. Perhaps he will reflect on those Christian values in the years ahead.”

After passing sentences and ordering them to pay their victim £10,000 compensation, the couple were told by the Judge “you are now free to go.”