The police have rescued 22 teenage girls who were lured all away from Akwa Ibom state to Ogun state for prostitution.
In an operation coordinated by the Area commander Ota, ACP Muhideen Obe, the police team gathered credible intelligence that minors were being recruited from other states and ferried to Ogun State as commercial sex workers at KOLAB hotel in Itele Ota.
The Police team stormed the hotel at about 8pm on Friday where the 22 teenagers whose ages are between 10 and 14 years were found and rescued.
The girls said they were lured from their respective villages in Akwa Ibom state to Ogun state, with the promise to employ them as sales girls in restaurants and supermarkets.
The victims said further that they were first brought to Lagos and later transferred to a brothel in Ogun state as commercial sex workers.
The Police Spokesman in Ogun State, Abimbola Oyeyemi, who made this known in a statement, said the girls also narrated that they were deprived of using phone or any communication devices, thereby, making it impossible for them to reach out to their parents or relations.
Abimbola, a Deputy Superintendent of Police(DSP), added that the manager of the hotel, one Isaac Ogbaji, 33, and ten other male suspects were arrested during the operation.
According to him, the commissioner of police, Edward Ajogun, has directed 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.
