- Nigerian couple enslaves man for 24 years in Britain!
It could be considered as just another story of man’s inhumanity to man, but this doesn’t make it any less appalling and condemnable. Indeed, in a world of escalating evil, stories like this one should prompt further reflections on the values that separate humanity from beasts.
How a British–Nigerian couple, Emmanuel Edet, a 61-year-old obstetrician, and his 58-year-old wife Antan, a hospital worker, enslaved Ofonime Sunday Inuk for 24 years belongs to the realm of the surreal. Inuk, now 40, was made to work “up to 17 hours a day” without pay for almost quarter of a century. He was forced to look after the couple’s two children, cook, clean and garden for free.
The victim, who was 14 when the couple took him to the UK from Nigeria in 1989, told his sad tale in a UK court where he gave his evidence from behind a screen so that he could not see his tormentors. He had believed the Edets would pay him for his work as a “houseboy” and had dreamed of getting an education in Britain.
The Edets reportedly changed the victim’s name and added him to their family passport as their son to facilitate his entry into the UK. The fraud was bad enough. It was worsened by the victim’s enslavement.
It was evidently a bad case against the Edets. Harrow Crown Court found husband and wife guilty of cruelty to a child, slavery and assisting unlawful immigration. Crown Prosecution Service lawyer Damaris Lakin described the abuse as “a shocking case of modern-day slavery which has no place in our society.”
She said: “Not only did the defendants have total psychological control over the victim, but they also had control of his passport and identity documents. He was told by the Edets 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. He believed this and felt trapped and completely dependent on the Edets…He was made to sleep largely on the floor in hallways despite there often being a spare bedroom in the houses where the family lived.”
The Edets’ conviction and imprisonment for six years leave no doubt about how the society in which they live views their wrongdoing. Their punishment makes a powerful moral statement that should be endorsed by civilised humanity.
Regrettably, given the Edets’ Nigerian roots, their beastly behaviour is bad publicity for Nigeria. Nigeria doesn’t need negative ambassadors like the Edets. It is noteworthy that the local conditions which made it possible for the Edets to take Inuk to the UK as a “houseboy” still exist. Also, the practice continues till today. So, there is always the possibility of the kind of inhuman exploitation that the Edets’ case highlighted.
What makes the Edets’ example particularly tragic and terrifying is that they betrayed their medical background, which should have made them more empathetic than their conduct showed. They had no excuse for what they did, and it was inexcusable.
Inuk’s redemption is a positive ending. Metropolitan Police Detective Chief Inspector Phil Brewer said: “Today the victim is living a new life in the UK. He has a job, a home with his own bed and freedom to move, and he is studying. While he will never fully overcome what happened during those 24 years, he is determined to make the most of the rest of his life…”
Any decent society must continuously enforce civilised standards through the justice system. This case should serve as a lesson to local authorities on the need to focus more intensely on child trafficking and child abuse issues.
