Daniel Efe/Port Harcourt
Operatives of the Rivers State Police Command on Saturday 6 August, 2022 stormed and rescued some underage girls forced into sex slavery in brothels at Azikiwe Street, Mile 2, Diobu, Port Harcourt.
Following the arrest of the suspects in one of the Brothels, some of the suspects Commercial Sex workers have deserted the Brothels.
DSP Grace Iringe-Koko, Public Relations Officer of the Rivers State Police Command confirmed the arrest of some suspects and the rescue of the underaged girls by the Police when contacted by our reporter but was yet to give details.
We gathered that Officers from Rumulomeni (Iwofe) Police station alerted Azikiwe Police Division in charge of the jurisdiction where the incident happened following a compliant they received from a relative of one of the underage girls before raiding the brothel.
Speaking on the incident, Barrister IK Alexander Esq, Chairman of Centre for Basic Rights Protection and Accountability Campaign in Rivers State, a human rights organization that has been monitoring the development called on the Police to synergize with National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking In Persons (NAPTIP) to ensure proper prosecution of arrested suspects .
In an interview with our reporter, Mr Alexander said his team visited the street on Saturday afternoon after the raid of the brothel by the Police and observed that the ‘madams’ who normally bring the underage girls from outside the state on pretence Of teaching them trade in Port Harcourt got feelers that the Police were coming back to raid the other brothels.
It was observered that ‘Madams’ involved luring underage girls for purpose of prostitution had moved them off almost immediately to an unknown destination before his team arrived.
Mr Alexander further called on the Rivers State Government to partner with NAPTIP to ensure regular surveillance on all the brothels in the State as the rate of teenage prostitution,sex slavery is alarming.
He also suggested that aside the arrest of the ‘madams’,that Directors, Managers of such brothels where underage girls are engaged in prostitution are also prosecuted, while urging residents of the state to join in the fight against sex slavery by giving useful and timely information to NAPTIP and other relevant security agencies.
He added that his group will monitor progress on the matter to ensure Justice is served.
In the meantime, a resident of the area, Peter Okosa in an interview with commended the Police for the rescue of the underagirls in a brothel at Azikiwe.
Mr Okosa disclosed that the older commercial sex workers who are no longer attractive to prospective male customers go to villages to bring underage girls between 13 -16 year old deceiving their parents that they are coming to learn trade and upon arrival at the brothels the girls are made to swear an oath of secrecy.
He said the older commercial sex workers referred to as ‘madams’ collects between N500 to N1,000 naira for ‘short time’ and N2,500 to N3,000 for ‘daybreak’ from male customers who have sex with the teenage girls.
Mr Okosa revealed that the underage girls are given target of N20,000 everyday and failure to meet the target attracts physical torture from their ‘madams’.
He explained that each ‘madam’ has minimum of five underage girls working for her and the teenage girls are not allowed to go outside the brothel, neither are they allowed to use mobile phones.
“The people who make their hair come inside the brothel to make their hair while their ‘madams’ buy body cream,food and clothes for them for twelve to eighteen months before they are freed.
“We urge the Rivers State Government and relevant security agencies to extend their surveillance to other brothels in Diobu and Rivers State at large with a view to rescuing more underagirls used as sex slaves”.