₦airaland Forum

1stGenAmerican:
The story detailed that info. Her original host/employer returned to Nigeria. It doesn’t matter what she agreed to, the things they did are illegal in that country.

PoliteActivist:
Nope. Minors cannot work more than a limited number of hours plus they must be in school.
So it's simply IMPOSSIBLE

PoliteActivist:
It's a clash in cultures. I'm sure the Igbo apprenticeship system would be quite illegal in first world countries. Yet it is what consistently pulls Igbo kids from poor homes into wealthy oga status

ivolt:
They are not working!
Minors is a generic term here, there is a difference between an 8 year old
and a 15 year old.

If your view is correct.
A farmer whose children spend a lot of time on the farm would be committing a crime.
So would a small business owner whose children's second home is the small business office
assisting with sales, cleaning and others.

Newphiligeek123:
An angry mob has attacked the Lisburn, Northern Ireland home of Nigerian husband and wife Osarobo “John” Izekor, 36, and 29-year old Precious Izekor - just hours after they were found guilty of their sickening crimes.

Windows at the front and back of the Ashmount Gardens property were smashed and the couple, who held a Nigerian national as their personal slave, were forced to flee with their three children in the early hours of the morning.

Neighbours described how they packed up their car with as many personal belongings they could manage and drove off under the watchful eye of PSNI officers who attended the scene.

“No one really knows who did it because it was in the middle of the night and it happened so quick 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 said.

“It’s a disgrace that they only got two years suspended 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,” she said to Afrotimes News.

The couple kept themselves 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 seen 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,” another neighbour said.

The couple were forced from their home last week and have since declared themselves as homeless.

Conviction

They 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.

Last week’s 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 women they kept as a domestic slave, they gained financially by not having to pay childcare costs while they worked.

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

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 own 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.

Source: https://www.facebook.com/AfrotimesNewspaper/photos/pcb.135914155786795/135913869120157/

shortIGBOman:
Another IGBO Billionaires who are making their Billions legitimately.

Nozino:
As a Bini guy, the names are Bini names, not Igbo names.

Onlinedet:
"It doesn't matter what she agreed to". My point exactly. Considering that it was categorically stated that there was no form of abuse, and she willingly stayed back in North Ireland to work for them while they took care of her (clothing, food and housing) and sent some money to her family in Nigeria. I'm not saying that it was fair enough. It's just all shades of grey.

SlyfoxxjReturns:
Why are you not talking to me?

Don’t judge me based on some tomfoolery on Nairaland. Nothing is real here.

Trust me you would be thankful to get to know me in real life.

So what’s up, sweetheart?

1stGenAmerican:
I’ll check on you momentarily. Look for my response.

optm:
one is being exploited however due to ignorance and you see nothing wrong in it so long as the person willingly agrees? This is wickedness aside the fact that it is illegal in the country they are resident in.

Onlinedet:
"It doesn't matter what she agreed to". My point exactly. Considering that it was categorically stated that there was no form of abuse, and she willingly stayed back in North Ireland to work for them while they took care of her (clothing, food and housing) and sent some money to her family in Nigeria. I'm not saying that it was fair enough. It's just all shades of grey.

Onlinedet:
You think she was exploited due to ignorance? She is 33 years old, bro. She agreed to work for them because she doesn't want to go back to Nigeria with her former Nigerian employers. Her visa was probably tied to her employers. She knew exactly what she was doing. However, I'm not saying that what the couple did was right. That's why I said "it's all shades grey"...

wirinet:
That's the definition of modern day slavery. Why should your employer send send some money to your family and not pay you directly? Even such things are common place here in Nigeria, it is considered illegal in the western world.

optm:
we cannot be too sure of this; whatever the case may be, exploitation should never be excused. Taking advantage of people's situation in an unfair manner is very wrong

Onlinedet:
Lol... I don't want to sound like I'm defending the couple, but I also believe that the lady was the one that agreed for her family to be sent the money. My point is that everything was consensual and mutual to some extent. But normally, we all know that it's in human nature to want more for themselves regardless of the former agreement. So, we can say she later realised that she could have more than just basic needs... And if the couple had known that she would breach the agreement and go to the UK police, I believe they would have revoked their name from her visa, and she would have had to go back to Nigeria. They probably thought they could just bring her from one village in Nigeria and take her in as a house help, just like it's done in Nigeria...
I just feel for the little kids that would be staying without their parents for two years Shaa.
This just goes to show that one needs to be careful even when helping others, because even the person you think you're helping could turn against you anytime they feel they're not getting enough...
I repeat; it's all shades of grey

Onlinedet:
Can't be too sure? You could easily deduct these facts from the report.
And yes, exploitation is wrong. But I bet she never saw it as an exploitation when she was told to come to the UK and be a house help; she probably thought it was a prayer answered. It's a common thing where some Nigerian villagers would take the opportunity to come to a Nigerian city to work as house helps. It's very unfortunate, I know. But life itself isn't fair, bro.
We just hope for the best.

wirinet:
As a Nigerian, our conscience has been deadened by both culture and religion. We are taught that exploitation of the weak - poor, women and children is acceptable and even desirable. In the west, exploiting these group of people without appropriate employment terms is termed modern slavery. Agreements contrary to these terms are null and void from the beginning. There are lots of NGOs specifically dedicated to fighting against such exploitation.

I have three children and I never agreed to use teenage children, very poor relatives or exploit a desperate poor stranger to help raise them. My wife and I raised my children all by ourselves, with occasional help from my mother. I know lots of couples with less income with 2 or 3 exploitative "househelps" baby sitting their children. Nigerians have normalised such behaviour. It's not condoned at all in Europe.

The case has been decided, the couple was found to have broken their laws and they have been sentenced. So the the matter of a consensual agreement has been defeated. Furthermore, the general society is appalled by such behaviour and decided to vent their anger. You might find such behaviour acceptable, but the British society does not.