Tina Amanda
Officers of Rivers State Police Command on Saturday 6 August, rescued some underage girls forced into prostitution in some brothels located at Azikiwe street, Mile 2 Diobu, Port Harcourt.
The burst in the brothels has led to commercial sex workers deserting the area.
According to information gathered, officers of Rumuolumeni (Iwofe) Police station alerted Azikiwe Police Division in charge of the jurisdiction following a complaint received from a relative of one of the underage girls before raiding the brothel.
It was also gathered that some of the brothels’ operatives were arrested by the Police officers during the raid.
In an interview with our Correspondent, Chairman Centre for Basic Rights Protection and Accountability Campaign Rivers State, a human rights organization, Barrister I.k Alexander,
said the organization has been monitoring the development since they got wind of it.
He disclosed that his team visited Azikiwe street on Saturday afternoon after the raid of the brothels by the Police and discovered that the woman (Madam) who brings the underage girls from outside the state on the pretence of teaching them trade in Port Harcourt got feelers that the Police would come back to raid other brothels where the underage girls are kept for prostitution and were moving the girls into a waiting bus which zoomed off almost immediately to an unknown destination as soon as his team arrived.
Alexander called on the Rivers State Government to partner with NAPTIP to ensure regular surveillance of all the brothels in the State, noting the rate of teenage prostitution, and sex slavery is alarming.
He called for the arrest of the madams, Directors, and Managers of such brothels where underage girls are engaged in prostitution He also said that such people should be 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 further assured that his group will monitor progress on the matter to ensure Justice is served.
Also, a resident of the area, Peter Okosa in an interview with our correspondent commended the Police for the rescue of the underage girls in brothels at Azikiwe.
Okosa narrated that the older commercial sex workers who are no longer attractive to their prospective male customers go to villages to bring underage girls between 13 -16 years old, deceiving their parents that they are coming to learn a 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 collect between 500 to 1000 naira for short time and 2500 to 3000 naira for daybreak from male customers who have sex with the teenage girls.
He revealed that the underage girls are given the target of 20,000 naira every day and failure to meet the target attracts physical torture from their madams.
According to him, each of the madams has a minimum of five underage girls working for her and the teenage girls are not allowed to go outside the brothel, nor are they allowed to use mobile phones.
“The people who make their hair come inside the brothel to make their hair while their ‘madam’ buys them cream, food, and clothes, and they have to work up to twelve to eighteen 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 used as sex slaves”.
In the meantime, DSP Grace Iringe-Koko, Public Relations Officer of the Rivers State Police Command has confirmed the rescue of some underaged girls and the arrest of some of the brothel operatives when contacted by our correspondent.
