About 12 female sex workers rescued from a brothel, in Anambra State, have confessed that they made between N10,000 and N40,000 daily from their clients.
Rescued from Happiness Guest Inn, Amawbia, Awka Local Government Area of the state, the victims, who are between ages 15 and 25 years, said they were mandated to return the sum of N10,000 to N15,000 each night and N40,000 on Sundays, while each man they slept with paid them N1,000 and above.
Narrating their ordeal, the victims said they were brought to Awka by one Ifeoma and Chika from their house in Izza, Ebonyi State on the promise of securing a job for them but were later forced into prostitution.
One of them said, “The women who brought us to the brothel, seized our phones and other belongings before handing us over to another woman called Ezenwannyi who notified us that before we will be released, we must bring the sum of N150,000 or serve her for one year.
“We were able to use a whistle-blowers phone to get across to our family and the whistle-blower in turn notified the Anambra State Ministry of Women and Social Welfare, which, with the help of the Police, busted the brothel.”
One of the victims’ parents, Mrs Uchechi Friday said immediately after her daughter got missing, she lodged a complaint at a Police station in Abakaliki.
“I was shocked when I got a call from my daughter which made me seek help from the Commissioner for Women and Social Welfare,” she said.
Appreciating the Commissioner for her prompt response, Uchechi urged other parents to always be alert to their children’s welfare and whereabouts.
Reacting, Commissioner for Women Affairs, Ify Obinabo restated the government’s resolve in ending all forms of child kidnap, trafficking and sexual slavery in the state.
She warned hotel owners to desist from using underage girls in running their businesses or face the law, assuring that the case which had already received the attention of Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo would not be treated with levity.
While recounting how her Ministry was able to apprehend the suspect in collaboration with the Police after a tip-off from a whistle-blower, Obinabo said she had since contacted victims’ family members after taking them to a hospital for medical examination and possible treatment.
“The case has since been transferred to State Criminal Investigation Department, SCID, Awka for comprehensive investigation and consequently charged to court,” she added.