Fifty-nine commercial sex workers have been arrested by the
Department of State Security in Calabar, the News Agency of Nigeria
reports.
Mr Ilupeju Adebayo, Director of the DSS Command in Cross River
State, who disclosed this to newsmen on Saturday in Calabar, said
those arrested were picked up around 2:15 a.m on Saturday.
Those arrested, made up of 43 girls and 16 men, were picked up
at the Peace Garden Hotel and Papsi Place, located along the
Murtala Mohammed highway in Calabar.
Adebayo revealed that there was a cartel responsible for luring
the girls and making them swear to an oath of secrecy.
The oath involves a promise not to abscond no matter what or
divulge information about the business.
“We got an intelligence report and swung into action. We have
been on the matter for months. We discovered that the girls are
mostly underage, mostly between the ages of 13, 15, and 19
years.
“We also know that they were brought in by a cartel, deeply
involved in the business of trafficking and using the girls as
commercial sex workers.
“The girls then bring returns to them at the beginning or close
of the week, depending on their modus operandi.
“We have made some arrests including that of the owner of Papsi
Place, a brothel that houses mostly underage girls who pay him
N2,000 on weekdays and N4,000 at weekends as lodging fees.
“They operate from the hotel to clubs where we arrested them
stark naked.
“We have contacted the National Agency for the Prohibition of
Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), while investigations are ongoing
until all those involved in the illicit trade are arrested and
charged to court,’’ he said.
While speaking to journalists, Adaeze Abam, one of the 43 girls,
said she was brought to Calabar from Rivers under the guise of
being given a sales girl job.
Abam, however, said she ended up becoming a commercial sex
worker.
“I was brought to Calabar through a friend who told me that I
will be given a job as a sales girl. She took me to a lady who I
only know her name as Aunty Favour.
“They took me to a brothel at Atamu Street, Calabar South, from
where I used to attend night clubs.
“I ran away and then they traced me and brought me back. They
wanted to force me to take an oath but I objected and absconded
again to meet my friend whom I came with to Calabar then.
“Aunty Favour came there with the boyfriend and some cult boys
and beat me up, and told me that if I ran again they will kill me
or I will die.
“So, I usually go to her house to make returns to her every
week. But I am not happy with the kind of work I am doing.
“It was never my intention to do this because my friend did not
tell me that it was this kind of job,’’ she lamented.
Mr Edem John, one of the 16 men in custody and owner of Papsi
Place, denied any wrongdoing.
He claimed that he had been warning the underage girls not to
come to his place for commercial sex.
John, however, added that because of the trying times, he had no
choice but to be involved in the business.
“I have been doing this business for about two years. They pay
me N2,000 for the accommodation where they have sex with men.
“Although I have been warning the underage ones to stay away
from my place, they still come back, and I need to do my business
because I have a family to feed,’’ he said.
(NAN)
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