Josephine believed the traffickers who lured her to Europe. On Thursday she was due to  testify against them as part of a major trial in the Dutch town of Zwolle. On trial are eleven defendants, most of them Nigerian, who brought young women and one man from Africa under false pretences and forced them into a life of prostitution.
 
 
Shaven head, checked shirt, white leather shoes, relaxed demeanour. To look at him, you would never guess that Nigerian Solomon O (44) is facing imprisonment for being the boss of a criminal network. He is one of eleven suspects arrested in more or less simultaneous raids across Europe in 2007.

 
Solomon O and his partner Gilbert E (39) - their surnames withheld for legal reasons - remain tight-lipped, exercising their right to remain silent. It is therefore left to the judge to sum up the facts of the case. He bases his account on a large number of telephone conversations intercepted by the Dutch authorities.
 
 
Escape
Gloria, Nancy, Ogogo and Vicky all arrived in the Netherlands. The judge points out that this is partly due to the fact that there are direct flights from Nigeria. But in addition it almost certainly has something to do with the relatively open nature of Dutch centres for under-age asylum seekers. Once a request for asylum has been made, it is relatively easy to slip away from these institutions.

 
Fifty-five Nigerians escaped from these refugee centres between 2005 and 2006, at least 38 of them minors. The almost systematic nature of these disappearances set off alarm bells with the authorities, especially since the victims had all arrived in the Netherlands via the same route: with no passport, and a  letter from a non-existent charity in their pocket. In secret, a joint operation involving the Dutch, Nigerian, French, Belgian, British and US authorities was set up.

 
Madam Stella
At their trial, Solomon O and Gilbert E are played excepts from their recorded telephone conversations. The judge links their coded conversations to the arrival of young women - and a single man - in Italy and Spain, where 'madams' are waiting to meet them. Nancy goes to Madam Aduseba and Gloria to Madam Stella. The young women are forced to work in closed clubs. Their captors insist they have to pay back a debt of between 50,000 and 60,000 euros, something they apparently agreed to during voodoo rituals in Nigeria, where hair, blood and nails were taken from them to seal the agreement.

 
Many young victims have never been heard of again. The women who did find their way to the authorities were so afraid that only ten dared to press charges. Their testimony is largely due to the considerable efforts of a Nigerian priest in the Netherlands. New legislation makes it possible for the victims of human trafficking to receive a residence permit in exchange for reporting their plight to the police.

 
Rumour has it
In the weeks to come, rumour has it that the lawyers defending the accused will attempt to cast doubt on the mediation carried out by the Nigerian priest. They believe he did not play a neutral part in proceedings but interceded with the backing of the Dutch government.

 
And what about the victims? Will they actually dare to testify against their traffickers? When they come face to face in the courtroom, will their fear be too much for them?
 

• Read on to learn what happened on Day Three of the trial