“Segregated and subjected to voodoo rites”, blitz in Palermo against the ‘Black Ax’

Segregated in her country of origin, subjected to a voodoo rite and reduced to a ‘slave’. It was the dramatic story of a young woman that triggered the investigations of the Palermo Mobile Squad which led to the arrest of four Nigerians, accused, in various ways, of human trafficking, enslavement, kidnapping, exploitation prostitution and aiding and abetting illegal immigration, crimes aggravated because they were committed by people belonging to the Nigerian mafia-type association (secret cult) called ‘Black Ax’. The investigation, coordinated by the District Anti-Mafia Directorate, was triggered by the victim’s complaint, accompanied by a Nigerian Pentecostal pastor, to whom she had turned for help. The girl told the investigators of the Flying Squad that she was segregated in her country of origin by a group of men belonging to the secret cult called ‘Black Ax’ and that she was able to free herself thanks to the intercession of a compatriot, behind her commitment. to go to Italy as a ‘slave’ of that group. She was thus subjected to a voodoo ritual during which she promised to return 15,000 euros, the sum necessary to illegally reach Italy. Arriving in Palermo, taking advantage of her state of subjection and under the threat of death and violence, she was forced into prostitution and the money handed over to repay the debt. “The woman managed to escape from her tormentors – the investigators explain -, turning to the pastor who has received death threats for his ‘help’ work”.