Italian police announced on Wednesday that a Nigerian woman who had fled the country had been returned to face a 13-year term stemming from convictions for trafficking women for prostitution (Mar.8).
From 2006 to 2007, the 48-year-old Joy Jeff was a prominent player in the trafficking of Nigerian women to Italy, Spain, and the Netherlands. She imposed her authority by violence, including making threats against her relatives back in Nigeria.
A treaty signed by Nigeria and Italy in 2020 facilitated the extradition. According to the statement, she was arrested in Nigeria on June 4, 2022, on an international warrant issued by Italy.
Investigators in Ancona, Italy’s easternmost city, said Jeff was a key figure in trafficking women to Italy, Spain, and the Netherlands, where they were forced into prostitution through violence and threats. In her absence, she was convicted.
The woman was flown from Nigeria’s capital, Abuja to Ciampino airport in Rome, where she was taken away in a wheelchair by police, according to a video released by the Italian police.
“Africa today is a strategic location when looking for fugitives and fighting organised crime,” said Vittorio Rizzi, an Italian police chief responsible for international coordination.