Ogun State Police Command, on Friday 7th of May 2021, rescued 22 teenage girls allegedly lured from Akwa ibom state with phony offers of employment for prostitution.
The State Police Command spokesman, DSP Abimbola Oyeyemi disclosed this in a statement.
Oyemi stated that 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 are 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 ten other male suspects were also arrested during the operation” the statement reads.
The spokesperson added that the state’s commissioner of police, CP Edward Awolowo Ajogun, has ordered that the family support unit of the Area command Ota to take over the investigation of the case, identify the recruiting cartel and bring them to justice as soon as possible.