FORT WORTH – A federal jury found an Arlington couple guilty Tuesday of compelling a Nigerian widow to work as their servant for nine years.
Emmanuel and Ngozi Nnaji each face up to 55 years in prison after their convictions on conspiracy, forced labor and other charges.
According to a Justice Department statement, trial evidence showed the Nigerian-born Nnajis lured the woman to the U.S. with promises of a salary and child support.
The evidence shows the couple seized the woman’s passport, isolated her in their home and made her work long hours as their servant with no days off and little to no pay. They didn’t provide support for the woman’s six children in Nigeria and limited and monitored her contact with her family.
Emmanuel Nnaji also sexually assaulted the victim, according to the statement.
The woman had told investigators that she met Emmanuel Nnaji in 1996 while working as a nanny for his brother-in-law in Nigeria. Ngozi Nnaji’s brother asked if she would go work for the couple in Texas, and she agreed.
Court documents show that he took her to the U.S. Embassy in Lagos and obtained a passport and visa for her as Comfort Nnaji, the name of Emmanuel Nnaji’s mother.
The woman said she lived with the Nnajis first in their Irving apartment, then in their Arlington home, and cooked, cleaned and cared for their three children. According to testimony, the couple refused to let her attend church or have friends.
One day, the woman was able to hide in a closet and call her niece in Nigeria to tell her about her ordeal. Documents show that the niece told a Nigerian priest who lived in Texas and was back home on vacation. He gave the niece his cellphone number and asked her to pass it to her aunt.
The priest returned to Texas in February 2006, established contact with the woman and helped plan her escape. On Feb. 24, 2006, the priest drove to Arlington, where the woman met him on a street corner holding a bag and fled in his car.
