Nine girls with ages ranging between15 and 23, used for commercial sex in a hotel in Awka, the Anambra State capital have been rescued by the state police command.
DSP Ikenga Tochukwu Anthony, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the Anambra State Command, in a press statement made available to journalists noted that the rescue mission was achieved following an intelligence report from the Anambra State Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Welfare, of a certain hotel in Awka where the girls were subjected to sex slavery.
The statement reads, “Following the information received from the Anambra State Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Welfare, Police Operatives stormed a hotel in Awka and rescued nine girls within the age bracket of 15 to 23years, used for sex slaves and arrested the proprietor of the hotel.
Further interrogations/confessions of the rescued girls, reveal that the respective persons that brought them to the brothel lured them on the assurances of giving them jobs to alleviate poverty 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 Affairs and Social Welfare to ensure 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 described such places as a den where criminals take refuge.
“We urge the good people of Anambra State to continue to provide the police with information about such places as the joint operations to weed such harbours have commenced.
“The case has since been transferred to State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Awka for comprehensive investigation and shall be charged to court afterward,” the statement added.
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