A Nigerian woman in her twenties, who may be a victim of human trafficking and has remained in garda custody for over two months while her identity is trying to be established, agreed to co-operate with gardaí in furnishing her fingerprints and identifying the house in which she claims she was held against her will.
During an application for the bail of a woman — who initially gave her name as Edith Jonho, but now claims to be called Edith Orumwenes — Superintendent Frank Walsh told Ballina District Court on Tuesday that gardaí still have not been able to establish her real identity or how she arrived in Ireland, and objected to bail.
Solicitor for Orumwenes Aidan Crowley put forward the application for bail on the condition that the defendant be released to a safe house operated by Ruhama — an organisation which works with women who are victims of sex trafficking. To assist in this application, outreach worker from the organisation Emily Jamieson gave evidence to the court about a number of “indicators” which has led Ruhama to believe that Orumwenes “was a victim of trafficking”.
The outreach worker said that she first met with the defendant on December 10 and found her very forthcoming with information, contrary to the lack of co-operation gardaí have experienced from Orumwenes.
Orumwenes told Ms Jamieson that in trying to avoid an arranged marriage at home in Nigeria she sought refuge with her aunt. During this stay the defendant claims that her aunt introduced her to two friends who offered Orumwenes work and educational opportunities in Ireland. According to the defendant she arrived in Ireland via Dublin airport and travelled with a black man and woman who she believed were husband and wife, and who had Nigerian passports, to a house in Castlebar.
On arrival at the house, Orumwenes claims that she met with a woman called “Maria” — a white woman, who also spoke a second language. Orumwenes was then kept in the house without her consent, was verbally and physically threatened, and was forced into prostitution. Ms Jamieson said that the defendant told her that she asked many Irish men who were clients for help, who in turn became upset and didn’t pay. This according to Ms Jamieson meant she was more “bother than worth”, as she was not making enough money and this may have been in a factor in her subsequent escape, as her captors may have wanted rid of her.
Orumwenes claims that on one occasion while “Maria” was having a shower, the defendant’s room door was left unlocked and Orumwenes escaped downstairs where she saw a single key on a table which opened the front door.
After escaping the house the defendant went downtown where, while she was asking a woman for help, gardaí approached her for ID. This subsequently led to her arrest in November.
Judge cynical of story
Ms Jamieson explained that Orumwenes was upset and anguished about the traumatic situation and of the fraudulent passport and birth certificate which her brother sent to a Nigerian solicitor’s firm in Dublin. Ms Jamieson said that a representative from the Nigerian Embassy finally met with the defendant in Dóchas on Monday evening, who said that documents would be prepared to establish her identity. As for the safe house, which “is reliable and trustworthy” and has been used by Ruhama on a number on occasions, Ms Jamieson said that gardaí would immediately be notified if the defendant disappears.
When asked by Mr Crowley what best practise would be if on the “balance of probabilities” that Orumwenes is a victim of human trafficking, Ms Jamieson said that a 60 day recovery period would be entered into and after these 60 days, depending on the evidence, the defendant may be granted temporary status or enter the refugee asylum process — which the defendant already entered into, but which was on hold due to this pending matter.
Supt Walsh asked Ms Jamieson if there were any incidents in which women claims they are victims of human trafficking which turn out to be false claims, to which the outreach worker said there have been.
The superintendent said that he was not satisfied that Orumwenes was a victim of human trafficking and was not satisfied with her ID, and wanted the defendant remanded in custody until the Nigerian Embassy assisted in establishing the woman’s identity.
Judge Mary Devins said she was going to “insist that the State do something urgently”. The judge said she was somewhat “cynical” of Orumwenes’ story as the defendant “seems to be filling in the in gaps of a story which she wants us to believe”. Judge Devins said that the story of her escape seems difficult to believe, as does the coincidence of meeting another black woman in downtown Castlebar of whom she was asking help from when gardaí approached.
The judge also said there was the wider issue of human rights to also be considered as this woman has been in custody for over two months. Judge Devins said that she would her remand in custody for one further week to Castlebar District Court on January 21. The judge said that at this court appearance if there are no answers then she would direct that this case would be removed out of the criminal justice system. Mr Crowley then informed the court that Orumwenes was now willing to provide fingerprints and show gardaí the house in which she was kept.
