9th August, 2022
Okafor Ofiebor/Port Harcourt
Operatives of the Rivers State Police Command over the weekend rescued some underage girls forced into sex slavery in brothels at Azikiwe Street, Mile 2, Diobu, Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
DSP Grace Iringe-Koko, the Public Relations Officer of the Rivers State Police Command who confirmed the operation to our reporter, added that some suspects were also arrested at the brothels.
But she refused to give further details.
But it was gathered that relative of one of the underage girls involved in the prostitution had asked officers of Rumulomeni (Iwofe) Police station in Rivers to help rescue the girl.
However, the officers of the Rumulomeni police stattion alerted Azikiwe Police Division in charge of the jurisdiction where the brothel is located, leading to the operation.
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
He said the team observed that the ‘madams’ who normally bring the underage girls from outside the state on pretence enrolling them to learn one trade or the other in Port Harcourt got feelers that the Police were coming back to raid the other brothels in the area.
He said because of this, the ‘Madams’ had moved the girls to an unknown destination before his team arrived.
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’, Directors, Managers of brothels where underage girls are being use for 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 underage girls in a brothel at
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 12 to 18 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 underage girls being used as sex slaves”.