A 28-year-old woman, Ifeoma Daniel, has been
arrested by the police in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, for allegedly
turning six girls to sex slaves. Daniel, who hails from Ahiazu Mbaise, Imo
State, and a suspected accomplice, Collins Madueke, 28, were arrested in the
Apo area by the Special Intelligence Response Team of the Inspector-General of
Police.
Punch reports that the six victims, whose ages
ranged from 19 to 22, were found locked up in a room before the police rescued
and handed them over to officials of the National Agency for the Prohibition of
Trafficking in Persons and other related matters.
The girls were rescued on Friday, June 17, 2016.
The victims – Chidinma Amakwe, Blessing John, Nancy
Azubuike, Chiamaka Eze, Amarachi Chinedu and Beauty Ndulue – reportedly told
the police that they were lured by the suspects to Abuja to become commercial
sex workers.
They said they were promised N200,000 after six
months.
Daniel, a mother of two, said she brought two of the
girls from their villages.
She said, “I have two children, Akunnaya and
Charity. I divorced my husband three years ago because he always beat me. I
went into commercial sex work as a means of survival. I started the work in
Port Harcourt, Rivers State. I was told commercial sex was more lucrative in
Abuja, so I relocated here in 2015.
“I operated in the Apo area. I thought I could make
more money by recruiting some girls to work for me. I brought the girls and the
agreement was that I would pay them N100, 000 after six months. I also promised
to take care of their feeding.
“I brought only two of the girls – Chinedu and John.
The other girls were brought by two women known as Mama Cynthia and Azonto.”
Madueke, who hails from Nsukka, Enugu State, denied
working with Daniel to recruit the victims for commercial sex work.
He said, “I worked as a hairdresser. In the first
week of June, I was in my shop when Chinedu (one of the girls) approached me
saying she wanted to learn hairdressing. The following day, she came back with
four other girls and they all said they wanted to learn as well. I know them as
apprentices.”
One of the victims, Azubuike, 20, said she slept
with no fewer than 15 men in a day, adding that Daniel made N20,000 from her
daily.
She said, “I hail from Mbaise, Imo State. I dropped
out of secondary school. My parents were aware that I wanted to go to Abuja to
learn a vocation. My friend told me it would be commercial sex work. What I did
not understand was that we would be locked up in a room.
“I slept with no fewer than 15 men in a day because
they loved my services and always asked for more. I normally made between
N15,000 and N20,000 every day, but the money went to madam (Daniel). I was
asked to stay with her because there was no accommodation. The police stormed
the place where we were locked up and rescued us.”
Another victim, John, 19, who hails from Aba, Abia
State, said, “It was one Aunty Joy who brought me to Abuja and handed me over
to Madam Azonto. Madam Azonto promised to give me N200,000 after six months if
I agreed to be a commercial sex worker.
“She kept me in a room with the other girls and
brought our food to the same room. Every evening, we were taken out to
different joints where we slept with several men. I normally collected N1,000
per round from customers.”
Punch learnt that a man, who stayed in the
neighbourhood where the girls were locked up, gave the police a tip-off.
A police source said, “The girls were kept in the
room and someone usually brought food for them through the window. When we got
there, we forced the door open and we discovered that there were six girls.”
Our correspondent gathered that the police were
making efforts to arrest the fleeing members of the syndicate.
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