The jury in the witchcraft case has retired to consider its verdicts this afternoon at the end of the six-week trial of a Gravesend man at Canterbury Crown Court.

Judge Adele Williams told them to set aside “any questions of prejudice, sympathy or emotion” into coming to verdicts on 12 counts of alleged trafficking and sex offences.

She added: “You must put them firmly at the back of your mind, stand back and take a long cool look at the evidence which you have heard.

Osezua Osolase, the man accused of using juju magic to entrap children to traffic them to Europe as prostitutes, has denied the accusations.

The Nigerian girls – aged 16 and 14 at the time, have alleged they were subjected to sexual abuse and witchcraft rituals by him.

But the 42-year-old guard at one of London’s top fashion shops told the jury: “They are all lying. I have never raped anyone in my life.”

Osolase, of Beaumont Drive, has also rejected suggestions that he used juju magic rituals to frighten the girls into remaining silent about their journey from Nigeria to London and Gravesend – before being sent to Italy and Spain on false passports.

Osolase has admitted that he arranged their flights to Europe using illegal passports – but claimed he thought they were all aged over 18.

Prosecutor Sarah Ellis, in her final speech to the jury, said the girls had lied about their names because they feared what might happen to them.

“They had a reason to lie but as far Mr Osolase is concerned it is simply to save his skin.

“In Nigeria life is cheap and in particular the lives of young Nigerian girls is cheap and the prosecution say that to Mr Osolase these girls weren’t human beings... they were commodities, they were just goods.

“The idea of trafficking people for prostitution is a vile concept but there is an industry now.”

She claimed that Osolase had brought the girls into the UK before giving them fake passports to travel to Italy and Spain where they would work as prostitutes.

One of the girls has claimed she was forced to undergo a juju witchcraft ritual to ensure her silence – which involved having her pubic hair cut and fingernail clippings taken before swearing an oath.