Nigerian Woman Convicted of Human Trafficking

A former Suwanee resident was convicted Friday in Atlanta on federal human trafficking charges involving two people recruited to the area from her native Nigeria.

Bidemi Bello, 41, was convicted by a federal jury on charges of two counts of forced labor, two counts of trafficking for forced labor, one count of document servitude, one count of alien harboring, and two counts of making false statements in a U.S. citizenship application. The trial lasted one week.

U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said in a release, “The evidence showed that this was a case of modern-day slavery hidden within an expensive home in an upscale neighborhood. The two women who were abused here thought they were going to be nannies; instead they were treated inhumanely. The laws of the United States protect all victims from such abuse, regardless of where they came from or how they came to be in the United States.”

Bello recruited her first victim in 2001 and the second in 2004.

The evidence showed that once in the United States, Bello became verbally and physically abusive to both young women, prosecutors said. She beat them for not cleaning well, beat them for not responding fast enough to her crying child, and beat them if they talked back to her. The women testified that Bello beat them with a large wooden spoon, shoes, electric cords and with her hands. One young woman was able to take pictures of her injuries with a disposable camera. 

Two witnesses, one a friend and one a relative of Bello, also testified about the abuse they witnessed. One woman described seeing one victim with bruises and swollen eyes from the defendant's abuse. Both women advised Bello to stop abusing the girls, evidence shows.

Bello refused to stop her abuse and send the women home, telling her friend, “I will not live in fear.” This friend helped one victim escape by hiding her in the back of another woman's car, who covered her with blankets, and drove her away. Bello then went back to Nigeria for the second victim, evidence showed.

Bello moved out of the United States during the investigation and was indicted on the charges in September 2010. She was arrested at Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston upon re-entering the United States.

Evidence also shows that the victims were sleep-deprived and forced to be on call for Bello’s child all night. Bello would not let the young women use modern appliances such as the washing machine, dishwasher, or the lawn mower. The evidence showed that Bello never sent the young women to school as she had promised and never gave them any money for years of work. 

One victim saved up $60, given to her by friends of Bello, and called a cab. She was assisted by pastors at a church in Marietta after taking the cab to the church, evidence showed.

Sentencing for Bello has been set for Aug. 24 before U.S. District Judge William S. Duffey Jr. The two forced labor charges and the two labor trafficking charges carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.  The two document-servitude counts carry a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.  The alien-harboring count carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.