Operatives of the Ogun state police command have rescued 22 underage girls who were taken from Akwa-Ibom for prostitution to the state.
The girls, as gathered were rescued on Friday during an operation, coordinated by the Area commander Ota, ACP Muhideen Obe.
A statement by the Police Public Relations Officer, DSP, Abimbola Oyeyemi, explained that the team, upon credible intelligence, received, that minors were being recruited from other states and used as commercial sex workers at KOLAB hotel in Itele Ota.
DSP Oyeyemi noted the officers stormed the said hotel at about 8pm, where the 22 teenagers whose ages are between 10 and 14yrs were rescued.
“Upon interrogation, the girls narrated how they were lured from their respective villages in Akwa Ibom state to come to Ogun state, with the promise to employ them as sales girls in restaurants and supermarkets, only for them to get to Lagos and transferred to a brothel in Ogun state as commercial sex workers”, he said.
Oyeyemi added that the girls were deprived of using phones or any communication devices, therefore, making it impossible for them to reach out to their parents or relations.
“A 33 year old and manager of the hotel Isaac Ogbaji and ten other male suspects were also said to have been arrested during the operation”.
The Commissioner of Police, CP Edward Ajogun, has ordered that the family support unit of the Area command Ota should take over the investigation of the case, identify the recruiting cartel and bring them to justice as soon as possible.
