A woman has been arrested in anambra state for allegedly trafficking some underage girls for prostitution in the state.
The woman, Ekpereamaka Okonkwo, was arrested on Tuesday in Awka, the state capital.
Ms. Okonkwo, popularly known as Ukwu Venza, hails from Otolo Nnewi, a community in the Nnewi North local government area of the state.
Anambra State Commissioner for Women and Social Welfare Ify Obinabo told Newslodge on Tuesday night that the suspect owned a shantytown brothel in the community where she was holding some underage girls for prostitution.
The girls were between 12 and 13 years old.
Ms. Obinabo said that she usually trafficked girls from various communities to her brothel.
“She was using these little girls for prostitution. They (the girls) would pay her (after sleeping with a man), then she would now, in return, pay the girls every month,” she said.
attempted bribery
Ms Obinabo said she had tried to track down the suspect after a video exposing his wrongdoing went viral, but she went into hiding, apparently to avoid arrest and prosecution.
The commissioner said the suspect called her later and asked for the opportunity to meet with her to “water the soil.”
She said the suspect subsequently scheduled a meeting on Sunday in Asaba, the capital of Delta state, and offered her a bribe of N300,000 through the husband promising to make a total payment of N2 million for the commissioner to suspend the case.
“Her husband said that the woman (the suspect) would come to see me. And that she did not want to see me that Sunday because she felt that I am still very angry with her,” the commissioner told Newslodge.
Ms. Obinabo, however, contacted police officers in Anambra State who ambushed the suspect in Awka, where the commissioner had insisted on seeing the suspect to further discuss the offered bribe.
Consequently, the suspect and her husband were arrested when they appeared at the scene ostensibly to “cut a deal” with the commissioner.
Ms Obinabo said she was told the suspect previously ran the trafficking business in Nnewi, where she was popularly known as “Mrs. Padded”, before moving to Oba to continue the illegal business.
Oba is a community in the Idemili South local government area of the state.
The commissioner recalled that, in 2019, a slum brothel in Nnewi owned by the suspect was destroyed by a fire that killed three commercial sex workers who worked for her.
She alleged that the suspect was responsible for the victims’ deaths because he had locked the victims in a room at the brothel to prevent them from having sex with other men who did not pay him directly.
Ms. Obinabo said the state government was determined to prosecute juvenile offenders in the state.
The commissioner added that her ministry will not cease to facilitate the arrest of those involved in “sexual slavery” in the state.
“It will be prosecuted in court after investigations,” he said.
When contacted on Tuesday night, Anambra State Police spokesman Tochukwu Ikenga confirmed the incident to Newslodge.
“The suspect is in custody now,” said Ikenga, deputy superintendent of police.
Banned in Nigeria
In 2015, Nigeria enacted the Trafficking in Persons Enforcement and Administration (Prohibition) Act, which outlawed all acts of human trafficking in the country.
The law prescribes a minimum sentence of five years’ imprisonment and a fine of 1 million naira for trafficking related to sexual and labor exploitation.
Several people have been convicted of similar crimes across the country.
In February, the Awka Child, Sexual and Gender Violence Court of First Instance, Anambra State, convicted a 35-year-old woman who trafficked and forced four adolescents into prostitution.
A Federal High Court in Benin, Edo State, sentenced 49-year-old Ehie Ehirobo in 2018 to three years in prison for human trafficking. Ms. Ehirobo was convicted of procuring people for prostitution, among other crimes.