Detectives attached to the Crack Squad of the Lagos State Police Command, led by Chief Superintendent of Police, CSP Adams Uba, have busted a syndicate which specialised in luring teenage Nigerian girls abroad for prostitution and child labour.
The suspects, Chike Aniebonam and Donald Ovikute, who are currently in custody, were said to have been on the watchlist of the police for some time.
Police sources said intelligence was received that the suspects had brought to Lagos some of the girls they lured from the southern, western and eastern parts of Nigeria. Thereafter, a siege was laid at Mazamaza Hotel, Lagos, where the girls were camped ahead of shipment to Ghana, Benin Republic, and Sierra Leone.
According to sources, detectives who were at the hotel disguised as patrons subsequently swooped on the suspects and rescued 12 teenage girls.The suspects confessed to having been in the business for the past seven years.
Spokesperson for the command, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, had yet to react to the arrest. However, a source close to his office said the arrest was made on May 29, 2024.
The source said: “Twelve females between the ages of 13 to 19 years were rescued from their captors. The case is under investigation and the suspects will be charged to court at the end of investigation.”
In another development, two cultists on the wanted list of the police were arrested. The suspects, Adisa Femi Titilayo and Akinbowale Agbolade, were said to be members of the Eiye cult that had terrorised the Ikotun area of Lagos and environs.
They were tracked and arrested following a recent bloody clash between the Eiye cult and Aiye Black Axe Confraternity, which left two persons dead. Police sources who confirmed the arrest said: “On May 25, at about 1:30 a.m., information revealed the activities of some notorious cultists in the Ikotun area of Lagos State who had been on the wanted list of the police for terrorising the area.
“Operatives of the Crack Squad immediately went after them. One Adisa Femi Titilayo ‘m’ and Akinbowale Agbolade ‘m’ were apprehended. One cut-to-size gun with 10 live cartridges were recovered from them. The matter is under investigation.”
