(ANSA) - Bari, October 20 - Police have arrested four Nigerian asylum seekers in Italy who are accused of using voodoo rituals to manipulate young women they trafficked and forced into prostitution, sources said Tuesday.

The suspects were named as ringleader Joy Jhon, 30, her boyfriend Nosa Amen, 27, Sylvester Imadi, 24, and Confidence Ogbeide Oriaifo, 25. They may face charges of enslavement as well as abetting prostitution and illegal immigration.

Police uncovered the sex trafficking ring after a priest helped one of the young women escape the prostitution circuit near the city of Bari in southern Italy.

The witness told police she had been forced to work as a street walker by the ring along with four other young women, who were recruited from Nigerian villages with the promise of a better life.

Once chosen in Nigeria, they were made to undergo a voodoo ritual and encouraged into prostitution before they arrived in Europe. Here, each young woman reportedly earned the ringleader 800 euros a week.

The witness was rescued during the sea crossing to Italy, where she was taken to a migrant reception centre. At this point she could have escaped, but the voodoo ritual had incapacitated her psychologically and bound her to the group, she told police.

