₦airaland Forum

A doctor and his wife from north-west London effectively ‘owned’ and kept a young man as a slave for 24 years, a jury has been told.
Ofonime Sunday Inuk was about 14-years-old in 1989 when he left his native Nigeria with Emmanuel and Antan Edet, travelling first to Israel before arriving in the UK.

He stayed at various addresses with their family where he cleaned and looked after the couple’s home and children, Harrow Crown Court was told.

He had been introduced to the married couple, who worked in the NHS, through a family friend in Nigeria.

Mr Edet was a trained obstetrician and gyneologist and Mrs Edet was a senior sister at a hospital.

The deal was that the youngster should be paid for his work and receive an education, but this never happened, the court heard.

Instead he went unpaid, was not given a decent education and was left to sleep on the floor or in an outhouse, prosecutor Roger Smart said.

He would eat by himself and was stripped of his passport, the lawyer continued, adding the defendants had ‘to all intents and purposes owned him, controlling nearly every aspect of his life down to his very name’.

Emmanuel Edet, 60, and his wife Antan, 58, of Perivale, have pleaded not guilty to holding a person in slavery and servitude and assisting unlawful immigration.

They deny a further count of cruelty to a person under the age of 16.

The court was told the defendants had also changed Mr Inuk’s name so that he had the same surname as their own.

Mr Smart claimed this was ‘neither his [Mr Inuk’s] choice nor his desire but provided a means by which the defendant could move him not only domestically but internationally at their convenience and whim’.

Mr Smart told the jury that Mr Inuk had become so dependent on the Edets that he felt he had no choice but to stay with them.

He was told that if he left the house and reported matters to the police he would be arrested as an illegal immigrant and sent back to Nigeria.
Mr Smart told the court: ‘The victim has described as having spent 24 years of his life and having nothing to show for it – his mother has died, he has no means of returning to Nigeria. He was entirely dependent on them and they deprived him of his adolescence, his education and his family life. They have treated him beneath contempt.

‘It was clear the Edets did not like him obtaining even the modicum of freedom and, ultimately and without any care to him, they removed him from the course.

‘When he did not meet their exacting standards, they hit him and punched him – he recalls this particularly clearly in relation to his trying to apply for college.’

Mr Inuk had tried to ask for his passport back in around 1995 but, Mr Smart told the court: ‘Every effort made by Ofonime to enjoy basic rights were thwarted by the Edets.

‘Having asked for his passport he was provided with a copy but the vital part with the visa on it, the part showing his status, was denied him.’

Mr Inuk’s family contacted the Edets in 2004 after they received a letter in which he described how he was being treated.

A row later broke out between the Edets and Mr Inuk’s cousin but the Edets claimed they had sent money and passports to Nigeria. They also claimed they had transferred money into a bank account but Mr Inuk had no knowledge of this account, the court was told.

A friend gave him a mobile phone which he hid from the Edets.

Mr Inuk, who was living with the Edets in Perivale, went to police at Greenford, west London, but they took no action. The matter was recorded as a missing passport and ‘it was incorrectly believed by the officer to whom it was reported that he could not help’, Mr Smart said.

‘Ofonime took no further action, believing that in the absence of his passport and this inability to prove who he was and why he was here, that he was an illegal immigrant and would not believed.’

This fear was compounded when Mr Inuk and his friend went to Ealing social services only to be told there was nothing they could do for him because he was an adult, Mr Smart added.

The Edets went to Nigeria for Christmas 2013 and Mr Inuk used the chance to send an email to a humanitarian campaign group about his plight. The police were then alerted.

The officers who spoke to Mr Inuk found he was a ‘nervous and timid’ man who hung his head low and appeared ‘almost servile’, Mr Smart said.
The Edets were arrested in March last year

blogexpert:
That is not completely true. Like most government parastatals and agencies which are currently not functional, NEPA/PHCN cannot be different from the lot like a prodigal son. The issue buoys down to management, Government in africa has never been and will never be good managers of businesses.

dorocent:
which netwrk r u presently using nw?

saintneo:
But glo network is terrible. I used glo for than a year till last month then i switched to [size=32pt]mtn[/size] data plan. glo switches off, then 2G, then G, then 3G and then repeats all over again. I was patient for nearly 8months.

Now I browse with ease.

dorocent:
which netwrk r u presently using nw?

dorocent:
datz gud way buh still rock my glo #1000 fr 3gb...... using it wella on my android tab....

lalasticlala:
https://mobile.twitter.com/MusadiqZ/status/594522561880403970


Nawa oo. This trekking madness!!!.Because the first person did it and was "hailed", everybody now wants to do same. The trekking fever has caught a woman this time around.

proxillin:
Hmmm pointing bigoted fingers where he can't look at the mirror. The post is about Yoruba, then you jealous filled bigot drop by to post tribal comments.

Oh I. The bigot here...

proxillin:
Fake like Igbo made. Yoruba are all over the world. We can't start sending Yoruba teacherseverywhere...Igbo is recognized in Guinea...where is the prove ? Give us YouTube videos. Yoruba has pasted links showing white Cubans adopting Yoruba...where is yours ? Igbo r known for fake. That word sound fake

proxillin:
We can't be sending teachers to every countries that has little settlements of Yoruba or Igbo. Cuba and Brazil has adopted and recognized Yoruba culture. That's where we need to send teachers to.

proxillin:
Jealousy and hate. Yoruba are in these countries too.however, both Yoruba and Igbo are not dominating here.

Have you gone to Cuba before ? Yoruba is like a third language in Cuba. They have even mixed Yoruba words with Spanish. Their are people who now take ifa as a religion.

Go to Togo Yoruba 1 third of the population. That's why FG is sending teachers to these countries.

You guys are always jealous of Yoruba. That's why you claim to own Lagos. You always want what we want.

Truckpusher:
They should free the guy joor.

After all in any capitalist nation like the US he is only making a living with his expertise and knowledge of black magic.

Would they also arrest all the psychics that are littering the streets in the cities of New Orleans and New York?

tobtap:
i must admit ...back when NTA dey start for 4pm ....but go dey show colour lines by 3.45pm...

barcanista:
According to 2012 United States factsheet, Nigeria has 250 ethnic groups. The most populous and politically influential include: Hausa and Fulani 29%, Yoruba 21%, Igbo (Ibo) 18%, Ijaw 10%, Kanuri 4%, Ibibio 3.5%, Tiv 2.5%. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ni.html
Looking at the Nigeria political structure especially that of the legislative arm (House of Representatives and Senate), I can't help but question the motive for the numerical advantage in favour of the combined North, and disadvantage in the side of the SS/SE. The whole South East was allocated just 43 Seats in the House of Representative despite that fact that the Igbo ethnic group that dominated the SE is one of the three largest ethnic groups in Nigeria. Whereas North West alone has 92 Seats and South West 71 Seats. Please read below and do comparison with multi-ethnic countries like Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Kosovo (below)

Nigeria
Federal House of Representative (360 Seats)
North-West: Kaduna (16), Kebbi [8], Zamfara (7) , Sokoto (11), Kano (24), Jigawa (11) and Katsina State (15).
Total: 92
North-East: Taraba (6), Borno (10), Bauchi (12), Adamawa [8], Gombe (6) and Yobe State (6).
Total: 48
North Central: Kogi (9), Niger (10), Benue (11), Kwara (6), Plateau [8], Nassarawa (5) + FCT -2
Total: 49 + 2 =51
South-West: Oyo (14), Ogun (9), Lagos (24), Ekiti(6), Ondo (9) and Osun State (9).
Total:71
South-Easts: Ebonyi (6) Enugu [8], Imo (10), Abia [8] and Anambra State (11).
Total: 43
South-South: Akwa-Ibom (10), Bayelsa (5), Edo (9), Cross River [8], Rivers (13) and Delta State (10).
Total: 55

NW + NE= 140 Seats
NW + NE + NC = 191 Seats
SW (alone) = 71 Seats
SS + SE= 98 Seats

Senate (109 Seats)

North West: 3x7 = 21 Seats, North East: 3x6 = 18 Seats, North Central + FCT: (3x6) + 1= 19 Seats
Total North= 58

South South: 3x6 = 18 and South East: 3x5 = 15
Total SE/SS = 33

South West: 3x6 = 18,

Comparing Nigeria's Situation With Bosnia and Kosovo

1. Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina is home to three ethnic "constituent peoples": Bosniaks, Serbs and Croats. Ethnically, according to data from 2000 cited by the Central Intelligence Agency, Bosniaks constitute 48% of the population, Serbs 37.1%, Croats 14.3%, and others form 0.6%.

House of People (Senate) With 15 Seats
Bosniaks: 5 Seats
Croats: 5 Seats
Serbs: 5 Seats

House of Representative With 42 Seats
Bosniaks: 14
Croats: 14
Serbs: 14
https://www.parlament.ba/default.aspx?langTag=en-US&pril=b
Despite having a whopping 48%, the Bosniaks for the sake of Political Justice and Equity agreed with the Serb (37%) and the Croats (17%) to share every seat in both parliament equally. This is equity and justice!

2. Republic of KOSOVO
Kosovo is an European state with Albanian majority. According to Records, Ethnic Albanians forms 88% of the population, Serbs 7%, other 5% (Bosniak, Gorani, Roma, Turk, Ashkali, Egyptian, Janjevci – Croats) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosovo#Demographics

Assembly of Kosovo
The Kosovo Assembly has 120 Members, to recognise the 12% minorities, the country reserved 20 Seats (ie 24%) for the Minorities while the rest 100 can be contested for by anybody. Of the 20 Specially reserved seats, 10 is for Serbs (despite having just 7% of the population), 4 seats for the representatives of the Romani, Ashkali and Egyptians. 3 seats for the Bosniaks, 2 seats for the Turks and 1 seat for the Gorans. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assembly_of_Kosovo

This is a country that the 88% Albanian Majority respect/recognize the right of the 12% ethnic Minorities that it specially reserved 20 Seats for the Minorities.

Equity Or Inequality?
Should we continue to deceive ourselves by holding the opinion that the Nigeria situation is "equity"? Won't it be justified to call for an overhaul of the system and institute a structure that could be deemed and justified in any sane clime if we are to move forward as a people in this arrangement called Nigeria? I believe that a call to address this lopsided "allocation" will be a patriotic one.

Source: http://solomontonye..com/2015/04/the-political-inequality-in-nigeria.html

nawtikid:
Recently, I've noticed a decline in my level of reasoning, I find it difficult to make intelligent arguments and decisions and my level of assimilation and comprehension also dropped.

Nairalanders, I need ur advice on d form of activities I can get involved in dat can exercise my brain greatly and restore my IQ.

bigtt76:
Abeg people ...what how far with the Wonder Stove wey Jonathan and hin crew wan import from South Africa? We must make sure baba knows about this o!
http://leadership.ng/business/391863/fg-approves-n9-2bn-contract-purchase-750000-stoves-18000-wonder-bags

parrotibaba:
the prince does not even stand a chance against scorpion (the spectre) of mortal kombat

socialmediaman:
Still in the habit of appointing party people in sensitive positions. GEJ never changes! Well, I learnt Peter Obi did some commendable job in Anambra though, what I don't know is whether he is technocrat enough to be in the business of Stock Market Regulation.

RomanZeus:
bro why u so mean?
Did u skip breakfast?

RomanZeus:
Where can I find the 'block' button?
I need it urgently
Person dey harass me