Connect with us

International

Nigerian on world’s ‘most wanted’ list extradited to Italy

Published

on

The Federal Government has extradited a suspected human trafficker, Joy Jeff, to Italy to face criminal charges.

The 48-year-old who is one of the few women on Italy’s list of “100 Most Wanted” criminals, was extradited by the Nigerian authorities on Wednesday.

Jeff has been on the wanted list since 2010 after she was accused of playing a leading role in the illegal transporting of Nigerian girls to Italy, the Netherlands, and Spain for prostitution and sex trafficking.

The woman and her cartel were said to have recruited young Nigerian ladies and transported them to the European countries where they used violence and threats to keep their victims in line.

She had previously been tried and sentenced to 13 years in prison in absentia by the Italian authorities.

Jeff’s extradition process started after she was arrested on June 4, 2022, in Nigeria by intelligence operatives after years of monitoring.

The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, had last month informed the ItalianAambassador to Nigeria, Stefano De Leo, that the suspect would be extradited after the conclusion of investigations.

READ ALSO: Police in Zamfara smashes bandit gang, arrests ‘most wanted’ leader

A statement from the office of the Attorney-General said the successful extradition was made possible due to the excellent collaboration between both countries, with the Italian immigration providing support to the local police forces.

Italian Police Force Central Director, Vittorio Rizzi, confirmed the development to the country’s media.

He said: “Today, Africa is confirmed as a strategic area for the search for fugitives and the fight against organised crime.

“Developing African countries also represent elective places for the laundering of the illicit capital of organised crime and Italy is committed at an international level to facilitate, through penal and administrative instruments, the tracing of the illicit assets of the mafias for their seizure and confiscation.”

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now