- Rescue underage girls used as sex slaves
The police in Lagos State have uncovered a brothel operating within the Oke Arin Market, where underage girls were allegedly made to engage in sexual acts with at least sixty men in a week.
Authorities have arrested a suspect related to the illicit operation and rescued thirteen teenage girls. One of the rescued victims, identified as Chinasa, reported that the brothel’s operator nearly killed her after she expressed a desire to leave the trade.
The 16-year-old victim also claimed that the operator drugged young girls before forcing them to have sex with men.
The Commissioner of Police, Fatai Tijani, spoke with journalists during a visit to the brothel and revealed that an investigation was launched after one of the teenage girls escaped following an assault by the operator.
According to Tijani, one of the escaping girls was taken to a police station by a Good Samaritan. Investigations revealed that the operators were bringing young girls from various parts of the country to work as prostitutes in the brothel.
Chinasa, who fled the brothel, stated that she was lured to Lagos from Delta State by someone she referred to as a “sister” from her neighbourhood. She was promised a job that would pay N100,000, but upon arrival, she was forced into prostitution and made to sleep with multiple men each day.
“I am sixteen years old and from Imo State. I had been apprenticing in Delta before I came to Lagos after a woman named Princess promised me a job that would pay N100,000,” she explained. “When I arrived in Lagos and discovered the type of work they wanted me to do, I rejected it and asked to return to Delta to finish my catering apprenticeship.”
Chinasa noted that the person who brought her to Lagos refused to give her money to return home, insisting she should work to earn enough to transport herself back.
“When I complained about the smell from the different men who came to the hotel, my ‘madam’ would give me drugs that made me act in ways I normally wouldn’t,” she said. “She was very hostile and frequently beat me with anything she could find, including planks and iron rods, whenever I resisted men. There were times she attempted to stab me with a knife.”
Chinasa further revealed: “I was made to sleep with different men. At times, I would have sex with more than thirty men in a day without any food. Those who paid to sleep with me were charged between N3,000 and N5,000, but I only received N1,500 daily for food.”
Commissioner Tijani stated: “We will continue our investigation, which will lead to the prosecution of the principal suspect and other members of the syndicate.”