The Ogun State Police command have saved 22 teenage girls who were seduced from Akwa Ibom State to Ogun state for prostitution.
This was disclosed in a press statement released by Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Abimbola Oyeyemi, made available to newsmen in Abeokuta on Saturday.
According to her, “In an operation, coordinated by the Area Commander Ota, ACP Muhideen Obe, the police 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, stormed the said hotel at about 8pm, where the 22 teenagers whose ages were between 10 and 14 years were rescued.
“On 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.
“They narrated further that, they were deprived of using phone or any communication devices, therefore, making it impossible for them to reach out to their parents or relations.
“The manager of the hotel one Isaac Ogbaji m’ 33 years and 10 other male suspects were also arrested during the operation”, she stated.
Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Police, CP Edward Ajogun, had 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.
