A former security guard accused of raping young Nigerians
before trafficking them to work as prostitutes in Europe told a court that he
escorted a woman on a flight to Italy because she was nervous of flying alone.
Osezua Osolase, 42, told Canterbury Crown Court that he was
subsequently paid hundreds of pounds for escorting other young women to
European countries including Italy and Spain after he lost his job and needed
to pay for cancer treatment for his mother.
The prosecution claims that Mr Osolase, of Northfleet, Kent,
recruited and raped impoverished young Nigerian orphans and forced them to
undergo West African “juju” rituals in which their blood was removed to cast a
spell over them and ensure their obedience.
He is accused of raping teenagers before selling them for up
tens of thousands of pounds to work in the vice trade and travelling to Europe
to hand them over.
He denies 13 charges including rape, sexual assault, and
trafficking three girls aged 14, 16, and 17 to Europe.
Mr Osolase told the court that he was heading to Italy on a
shopping trip to buy clothes to resell in Britain when a contact bought him his
airline ticket to escort a woman to Italy. “As I understand it, she was nervous
and wouldn’t want to travel alone to Italy and Milan,” he told Canterbury Crown
Court. He said that the woman was happy to travel.
The court was told after that trip that he was paid up to
about £1,700 to travel with other women to the continent. He was passed the
information of travellers by a contact in Nigeria called Anthony.
He told the court that he paid up to £400 pounds to “rent” a
stolen passport from someone he found after making inquiries at an African
restaurant. “I knew what I was doing was wrong,” said Mr Osolase. “I didn’t
know the severity.”
The court heard that Osolase first moved to Britain in 2007
but was removed by the UK Border Agency after he was cautioned over “false
representation” with a credit card. He married a German woman later that year
in Lagos, which allowed him to obtain a visa to return to Britain in 2008 and
he found work as a security guard. He also had a Nigerian partner with whom he
had a child, the court heard.
The case continues.
Say "NO" to RAPE - W.A.R NIGERIA
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