26-year old Nigerian woman, Jessica Edosomwan was listed by Europol as one of the 18 most wanted female fugitives by French authorities.
This was contained in the policing agency’s “crime has no gender” campaign which was made public on Friday, Ocotber 18, 2019.
Europol revealed the details and faces of of the 18 fugitives wanted by 21 European countries.
Jessica Edosomwan, a Nigerian citizen who escaped after police raided a prostitution ring in Lyon in 2007, is wanted by French authorities.
She is alleged to have been part of a gang of human smugglers who used a form of witchcraft known as ‘juju’ to force young Nigerian girls into prostitution.
The ring she was involved in exploited some 60 prostitutes who were smuggled into France through Libya with the promise of a better future when they arrived.
Once in France, the destitute women were subjected to voodoo ‘juju’ rites and their families were threatened, Europol said.
The victims, who were run by an older woman known as ‘la Mama,’ were then prostituted on the streets.
The money they made was then sent back to Nigeria through an informal payment system known as ‘hawala’.
Jessica Edosomwan has been on the run since 2017, but she is believed to be either in the Benelux countries, Italy or Germany, police said
The case against the those involved is expected to start in Lyon on November 6 and Edosomwan is the only suspect still outstanding.
Among 17 other women wanted are those convicted or accused of crimes including murder, robbery, drugs trafficking and serious fraud by countries across Europe.
