A Nigerian woman living in New Jersey, Balaji Bolarinwa, has been sentenced to 45 months in federal prison by the United States Department of Justice for recruiting and subjecting two fellow Nigerians to forced labour.
The 51-year-old resident of Moorestown was convicted following a two-week trial at the U.S. District Court in Camden, presided over by Judge Karen Williams.
In addition to her prison sentence, Bolarinwa will serve three years of supervised release, pay a $35,000 fine, and reimburse her victims with $87,518.72 in restitution.
According to a statement released by the U.S. Department of Justice on Monday, Bolarinwa was convicted on charges including forced labour, alien harbouring, and involuntary servitude.
The statement revealed that between December 2015 and October 2016, Bolarinwa recruited two victims from Nigeria and “coerced them to perform domestic labour and childcare services for her children through physical harm, threats of physical harm, isolation, constant surveillance and psychological abuse.
“The defendant engaged in this conduct knowing that one of the victims was out of lawful immigration status while working in her home,” it said.
It further stated that upon bringing the victims to the U.S., Bolarinwa confiscated their passports, subjected them to abuse, and forced them into unpaid domestic service.
However, one of the victims, who was enrolled in a school, eventually confided in a professor, an action that led to Bolarinwa’s arrest.
“Once the first victim arrived in the United States in December 2015, Bolarinwa confiscated her passport and coerced her through threats of physical harm to her and her daughter, verbal abuse, isolation and constant surveillance to compel her to work every day, around the clock for nearly a year.
“Bolarinwa then recruited a second victim to come to the United States on a student visa. When the second victim arrived in the United States in April 2016, Bolarinwa similarly confiscated her passport and coerced her to perform household work and childcare but relied more heavily on physical abuse.
“The two victims lived and worked in Bolarinwa’s home until October 2016, when the second victim notified a professor at her college, who reported the information to the FBI.”
Reacting to the judgment, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said the ruling sends a clear message that forced labour will not be tolerated in the United States.
He said, “The Justice Department is committed to fully enforcing our federal human trafficking statutes to vindicate the rights of survivors and hold human traffickers accountable for such shameful exploitation of vulnerable victims.”
Also commenting, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Newark Field Office, Terence Reilly, urged the public to speak up when witnessing suspicious circumstances.
“Bolarinwa lured women with false promises, held them captive, and forced them to clean her home and care for her children. Then, took it a sickening step further by physically abusing them. Luckily, one of the victims had the courage to tell someone.
“We ask anyone who notices an odd situation, something that doesn’t look or feel right, to please call us so we can help victims that may be hiding in plain sight,” Reilly stated.
