Woman, 63, arrested for trafficking girls for prostitution

The Benin Zonal Command of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has arrested a 63-year-old woman, ImahrIa Esther, for alleged involvement in trafficking of young girls for sexual exploitation. The commander of the Benin Zonal Command, Nduka Nwanwenne, said the agency in collaboration with the Nigerian Security and Civil Defense […]

The Benin Zonal Command of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has arrested a 63-year-old woman, ImahrIa Esther, for alleged involvement in trafficking of young girls for sexual exploitation.

The commander of the Benin Zonal Command, Nduka Nwanwenne, said the agency in collaboration with the Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) also rescued five girls from a brothel around Ahor, near Benin.

He said Esther exploited four of the five girls rescued and that investigation revealed that four of the girls were recruited from Katsina Ala, in Benue State by one Solomon on the pretence of working in a Bar in Benin while the fifth girl was recruited from Akwa Ibom State.

“On getting to Benin, they were handed over to the suspect who runs a brothel. The suspect collected all their earnings which the victims claimed to be running into hundreds of thousands of naira,” he said.

He said the victims alleged that their earnings were recorded in a card for each of them on a daily basis and kept in custody of the suspect.

The commander said the rescued girls are undergoing counselling from the command’s psycho-social experts for proper re-integration.