A 48‑year‑old Nigerian woman, Jeff Joy, who was one of the few women on Italy’s list of the 100 most wanted criminals, has been extradited to Italy. Joy had been on that list since 2010 and played a leading role in the illegal transport of Nigerian girls to Italy, the Netherlands, and Spain for forced prostitution. Reports indicate that she used violence and threats to control her victims. She was wanted for criminal conspiracy, enslavement, human trafficking, exploitation of prostitution, and other offenses, and was sentenced in absentia to 13 years in prison by Italian authorities.
The successful extradition resulted from close cooperation between the two countries, with the Italian Immigration Expert supporting local police forces. It marks the first case under the extradition treaty that entered into force in 2020. The process began after Joy’s arrest on 4 June 2022 by Nigerian intelligence agencies. On 10 February, Nigeria’s Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Abubakar Malami, notified Italy’s ambassador to Nigeria, Stefano De Leo, that Joy would be handed over.
This case highlights Africa’s growing importance in the search for fugitives and the fight against organized crime. It also demonstrates Italy’s commitment to international efforts to trace and confiscate Mafia assets through penal and administrative measures. Vittorio Rizzi, Central Director of the Criminal Police, expressed his enthusiasm: “Today, Africa is confirmed as a strategic area for the search for fugitives and the fight against organised crime. Developing African countries also represent elective places for the laundering of illicit capital of organised crime, and Italy is committed at an international level to facilitate, through penal and administrative instruments, the tracing of the illicit assets of the mafias for their seizure and confiscation.”
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