A British couple in London have been jailed for 12 years after they were found guilty of enslaving a man for almost 25 years.
61 year old Dr Emmanuel Edet, and his 58-year-old wife, Antan were sentenced for slavery, child cruelty and assisting unlawful immigration.
The victim was taken from Nigeria to the UK without his family’s permission in 1989, when he was 13 years old.
They claimed he agreed to be their domestic help on the basis that he would be paid and sent to school, but they made him carry out arduous, unpaid labour for 24 years.
He was forced to work for around 17 hours every day at their homes in Chatham, Scarborough, Walsall, Northolt and later Perivale, West London.
Prosecutor Damaris Lakin said the Edets told their captive he would be arrested as an illegal immigrant and deported if he left the house and contacted police.
“He believed this and felt trapped and completely dependent on the Edets,” Lakin said in a statement. “Emanuel and Antan Edet have cruelly robbed this victim of 24 years of his life. They have treated him with complete contempt.
“This was a shocking case of modern day slavery,” he said.