A French court has sentenced 24 members of a sex trafficking ring to seven years in prison for forcing Nigerian women into prostitution.
The convicts were themselves Nigerians, who have created a huge sex-trafficking ring in the country.
According to AFP, one of the convicts is Europe’s most wanted woman, Jessica Edosomwan, accused of acting as a France-based “madam” to women recruited mainly in Edo State.
Edosomwan was tried in absentia.
Seventeen women filed complaints against the defendants but none of the victims attended the trial, with the exception of one former sex worker, who found herself in the dock for luring another woman into the trade.
The accused had faced up to 10 years’ imprisonment on charges including human trafficking, pimping, money laundering and helping people live illegally in France.
Prosecutors estimated that the victims, aged 17 to 38, made up to $166, 000 a month for the syndicate by selling sex in vans parked by the side of the road for as little as 10 euros.
