A brothel madam who forced women to become sex slaves and made them eat live snakes has been ordered to pay back more than £20,000 of her profits.

Lizzy Idahosa, 24, was jailed for eight years in 2014 for trafficking a 23-year-old and a 29-year-old from Nigeria.

She made more than £186,000 out of the two women, who were terrified with black magic and made to see a witch doctor, a court heard.

The victims had their pubic hair shaved and were forced to eat live snakes and snails as part of a sinister “juju” ritual.

They were then flown to Britain, where they slept with men across the country.

Idahosa was found guilty of trafficking the women and was jailed for eight years at Cardiff Crown Court, while her husband Jackson Omoruyi, 41, was sentenced to two years.

Idahosa had profited by £186,400 from her sex ring – but investigators could find only £21,900 in her bank accounts.

Judge Tom Crowther ordered Idahosa to pay the cash traced to her accounts - or face a further nine months in prison.

During their trial, the court heard that the two women were terrified into doing what they were told because they believed the juju powers would work.

They were eventually found by immigration staff at a brothel in Cardiff, where they had been exploited and abused.

Speaking about her horrific ordeal, one 29-year-old victim said: “It was not a big snake, but it was alive. I just closed my eyes and put it in my mouth.

“They told me if I messed it up, I would get sent back to Nigeria and Lizzy would kill me. I wanted to stop. I was ashamed of myself and I had no life.”

After arriving in the UK, the women were put to work as prostitutes, working in brothels at massage parlours across England and Wales.

They were ordered to hand over the money they earned to Idahosa, believing the black magic curses would make them go insane or die if they refused.

Caroline Rees, prosecuting, told the trial: “The couple were involved in the exploitation of two women brought into the UK from Nigeria to work as prostitutes.

“They were bound to this by something called a juju ritual. It was a ceremonial ritual used to full effect to terrify both women into doing what was demanded of them.

“It was used to ensure compliance, secrecy, and they believed if they broke the bond dire consequences would follow: illness, madness, infertility or death.

“They genuinely believed the powers would work.”

The offences came to light after police arrested a 23-year-old Nigerian woman at the Ambassador Suite brothel in Cardiff, in June 2013.

•Credit (except for amended headline): The Sun of London. Photo shows the convicted brothel madam, Lizzy Idahosa.

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