Nine underaged girls used as sex workers in a brothel have been rescued by operatives of the Anambra State Police Command on Monday.
The girls who are mostly teenagers were taken away from the hotel while the owner of the brothel was detained.
In a statement on Monday, the state police spokesman, DSP Tochukwu Ikenga, said the police carried out the operation on the Awka-based hotel, following a reliable tip off from the state Ministry of Women and Social Welfare.
Ikenga assured that the victims will be rehabilitated before they repatriated to their various states of origin.
He disclosed that the girls were lured with some money to Awka from Ebonyi, Enugu, Akwa Ibom and Rivers states by the proprietor of the brothel, and with a promise to given them more money to send to their parents.
Ikenga stated, “Following the information received from Anambra State Ministry of Women and Social Welfare on Sunday at 6:00pm, police operatives stormed a hotel in Awka and rescued nine girls within the ages of 15-23years, used for sex slaves and arrested the proprietor of the hotel.
“Meanwhile, further interrogations/confessions of the rescued girls, revealed that the respective persons that brought them to the brothel lured/enticed them on the assurances of giving them jobs to alleviate poverty/needs of their parents and dependents.
“They further confessed to being taken from Ebonyi, Enugu, Akwa-Ibom, and Rivers States. Also, the Police Command is in collaboration with the Anambra State Ministry of Women and Social Welfare to make sure the girls are taken care of and safely returned to their parents/guardians.
“The Command has condemned the act and frowned at such persons who take advantage of vulnerable individuals to make money and describe such places as a den where criminals take refuge.
“We urge the good people of Anambra to continue to provide the police with information about such places as the joint operations to weed such harbour has commenced,” he narrated.
He police spokesman encouraged members of the public to call the Command’s control room number on 07039194332 or PRO on 08039334002 while assuring them that all information passed through these channels will be treated with the utmost confidentiality.
“The case has since been transferred to State Criminal Investigation Department Awka SCID, for comprehensive investigation and shall be charged to court afterwards,” he added.
