Scotland Yard
A NIgerian man's claim that he has been a slave in London for 24 years has gone to court having been dealt with by Scotland Yard's Human Trafficking Unit Getty

A NHS doctor and his wife standing trial for enslaving a man at their home for 24 years kept his passport hidden from him for more than 10 years, a court heard.

Ofonime Sunday Inuk claims he was smuggled by Emmanuel Edet, 60, and Antan Edet, 58, into the UK in 1989 from Nigeria at the age of 14. They both deny holding a person in slavery and servitude.

He claims he was ordered to stay and clean their home in Perivale, north-west London, working up to 17 hours a day, providing childcare and had to sleep on the floor. If he left their property they told him he would be arrested as an illegal immigrant and deported to Nigeria.

Speaking behind a closed screen, Inuk told the jury at Harrow Crown Court that Edet, his so-called "master", told him his passport had expired and he "should go to Nigeria to get it".

The court also heard he was told they would get an emergency travel ticket from the Nigerian embassy but this never happened.

Inuk's family were notified about his treatment after they received a worrying letter from him, the court was told. He also said he never knew about passports or an account in which the couple claimed they used to transfer money in Nigeria.

Prosecutor Roger Smart said the Edets, both with senior positions in the NHS, had "deprived the complainant of his identity, his rights to education and freedom of movement and the money he should have received".

The trial continues.