If you think the slave trade is dead, then you are wrong. A wealthy Nigerian couple living in a Houston, Texas mansion was arrested this week for charges of forced labor, visa fraud, withholding documents and harboring conspiracy. It is alleged that Chudy Nsobundu, 56, and his wife Sandra, 50, enslaved a 38-year-old Nigerian woman to work as a paid nanny in 2012. After the couple remained in Nigeria for a year ,they came to America and sent for the nanny. The woman was promised a place to live and $100 a month in pay. But the situation turned out to be a nightmare.
According to the woman, she was forced to sleep on the floor and work from 5 a.m. to 1 a.m. everyday. In addition, she was regularly beaten and threatened to be shot if she did not take care of the children. During one incident, she was dragged by her hair and beaten by Sandra Nsobundu for putting mismatched socks on a child. What food she was given she had to scavenge from household scraps. She claims that when she wanted milk for her tea, she had to drain the children’s cereal bowl. Stripped of her passport and personal belongings, the woman remained trapped in servitude to the couple.
After being in the United States for well over a year, she was able to contact her bank in Nigeria in October 2015 and found that the couple had only paid her $100 for the time she was with the family. Someone found out about her situation and contacted the National Human Trafficking Resource Center and an escape plan was made. In November 2015, she was able to escape with a caseworker from the YMCA International Trafficked Persons Assistance Program. The couple now faces up to 20 years in prison and $1 million in fines if convicted. A judge granted Sandra Nsobundu, 50, an unsecured bond and Chudy Nsobundu, 56, a $5,000 bond.
