Woman accused of abusing, forcing Nigerian women to work for free

A Nigerian woman is accused of human trafficking after federal agents said she threatened, abused and forced two women to clean her house and care for her daughter without pay.

Ms. Bidemi Bello, 41, formerly of Buford, was arraigned Monday in Atlanta’s federal court following an indictment for two counts of forced labor, two counts of trafficking with respect to forced labor, two counts of document servitude and alien harboring, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.

Human Trafficking is a global problem, said Mr. Brian D. Lamkin, special agent in charge, of the FBI Atlanta Field Office. Still, due to the hidden and illegal nature of human trafficking, no one can truly ascertain the depth of the problem, officials said.

Still, it’s believed that an estimated 12.3 million people are victims of forced labor worldwide with 2.4 million resulting from human trafficking —the second largest source of illegal income exceeded only by drugs trafficking, according to http://www.stopthetraffik.org/humantrafficking/problem.aspx.

These victims are often brought into the country by abduction, false agreement with parents, and some are sold by parents. Others are runaways traveling with family or orphans sold from the street or institutions.

It’s unclear under what conditions the Nigerian women came to Georgia and how officers found out about them.