Nigerian Woman Kept as Slave for 10 Years in London

Ololade Adeyanju/

A UK high court has heard how a Nigerian lady was kept as a slave for 10 years at a London home.

The victim, Rashida Ajayi, worked at the home of Teresa Abu and husband Joel for about £300 a year
She told the court she was a victim of “labour exploitation” for a decade.

She said she had been a “domestic worker” at the Abus’ home between 2005 and 2015 after being brought from Nigeria.

She also said she had been subjected to “minimally paid domestic servitude” and had “little or no personal freedom”.

The Abus’ however rejected these claims. They said they “treated her as a member of their family, paid her appropriately or perhaps at times generously for the work she did”.

According to court papers, Mrs Abu is a civil servant at the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy in London, while her husband’s vocation was not stated.

The judge, Victoria McCloud, said at a High Court hearing in London in July that Ajayi had been prevented from having a wage “sufficient to give her basic freedoms”.

She is however yet to rule on what compensation Ajayi should get. She also did not reveal Ajayi’s age or say where the Abus lived in her ruling.

McCloud said in her ruling: “The overall picture I have from the evidence is that Ms Ajayi was kept in economic servitude and oppressive servitude.”

She said they “fell short of the standards which the law of the land requires as a basic minimum for the dignity of the worker and their remuneration”.

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