Group Petitions Governor Wike On Underage Prostitution

A human rights and advocacy group, Centre for Basic Rights Protection and Accountability Campaign, with head office in Port Harcourt, has appealed to the Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, to urgently step up machinery to curb the increasing spate of underage girls prostitution across some major streets in the state.
The group in a joint statement signed by Vice Chairperson Afudoza Jennifer Stephens and State Secretary Gladys Oyenmwen requested the approval and support to rid brothels in Rivers State of a growing number of minors, underage girls who are lured into forced prostitution, shattering their lives.
“We have been monitoring developments on underage prostitution in brothels in the state and sharing actionable intelligence with necessary security agencies in the last two years.
“We are worried that despite our efforts which have resulted in several arrests of suspects, there remains a steady rise in recruitment of underage girls into prostitution in many brothels across the state. We want to believe this is due to poor or clock enforcement, particularly in prosecution of suspects.”
“For a lasting solution, Your Excellency, we have no doubt that the story would be different if you intervene with your support and deployment of legal instruments through the Office of Attorney General of the State to ensure honest prosecution of brothel owners where it is discovered that girls below eighteen years, even adult females are being recruited and forced into prostitution”.
“Your Excellency Sir, on 29 October 2022, a joint team of the Nigeria Navy Ship (NNS) Pathfinder, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and the National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking In Persons (NAPTIP) rescued fifty (many underage) girls forced into prostitution by suspected human traffickers at three brothels at Azikiwe Street, Mile 2, Diobu, Port Harcourt.
In August 2022, detectives from Iwofe Police Division of the Rivers State Command rescued underage girls from a brothel at same Azikiwe Street, Mile 2, Diobu, Port Harcourt, who were forced into prostitution.”
The common revelation by majority of the underage girls is that they are lured from some villages outside Rivers State on guise of coming to be employed as house helps, but they end up as commercial sex workers under duress to be sleeping with men who pay their mischievous coordinators.
His Excellency, most disturbing is the revelation made by some of the rescued underage girls that their recruiters tortured and subjected them to all manner of inhuman treatment, if they failed to meet up target of sleeping with at least fifteen men a day with expected revenue of thirty thousand naira”.
“Sir, we request that the same vigour be exercised by your office to ensure sealing or acquisition of brothels buildings and prosecution of owners of such brothels found using underage girls as sex slaves. Such genuine intervention will go a long way in discouraging other intending perpetrators.
It is our firm belief that aside arrest and possible prosecution of the racketeering commercial sex workers leaders often referred to as ‘Madams’ who act as guardians to the underage girls in this act of forced prostitution, the brothel owners who from our investigations move with escorts should be prosecuted too using necessary legal instruments, because they are a big part of the problem here.
“Sir assist us, give your nod to helping in reducing to barest minimum, this social menace that shatters the lives of young girls and endangers society”.