Twenty-two girls, who were allegedly lured to Ogun State for prostitution from Akwa Ibom State, have been rescued by policemen in Ogun State Command.
This was just as the manager of the hotel where they were kept, one Isaac Ogbaji, and 10 other men were arrested for questioning by the police.
Police Public Relations Officer in the state, DSP Abimbola Oyeyemi, who made this known on Saturday, May 8, 2021, said that the teenagers were rescued on Friday, May 7.
The PPRO disclosed that after the law enforcement agents gathered that some minors were being recruited from other states to be used as commercial sex workers at KOLAB Hotel in Itele Ota, the Area Commander, ACP Muhideen Obe, led a police team in a coordinated operation and stormed the hotel at about 8pm.
This led to the rescue of 22 girls, aged between 10 and 14 years, Oyeyemi said.
He stated further that when the girls were interviewed, they narrated how they were lured from their respective villages in Akwa Ibom to come to Ogun, with the promise of employing them as sales girls in restaurants and supermarkets.
To their consternation, on getting to Lagos State, they were taken from there to a brothel in the Gateway state to become commercial sex workers.
According to the PPRO, the girls narrated further that they were deprived of using phones or any communication devices, making it impossible for them to reach out to their parents or relations.
Oyeyemi added that the state Commissioner of Police, Edward Awolowo Ajogun, had ordered 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.
