The National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has raided and closed down a popular bar called 24 Hours Bar which also operates a brothel in Rumukurushi, Port Harcourt.
The bar which has been found to harbour underage sex workers was uncovered after a couple found out that their 16-year-old daughter was working as a prostitute there.
Most young girls who were taken from their parents by family relatives or friends in the pretence of going to learn a trade, where found working as sex workers for a price ranging from ₦1000 to ₦2000 per customer.
It was later discovered that the under-aged girls were bought over by older prostitutes from the agents who supplied them.
On arrival, the underaged girls are given a room in the hotel by their new owners who are senior prostitutes and the underaged girls are also reportedly given a target to remit ₦15,000 daily to their “madams”.
At the end of one year of service to the madam, the underaged girls are settled by their madam with items such as a bag of rice, an android phone, a carton of tomatoes, and cash of ₦100, 000 to take back home.
The brothel has now been closed by NAPTIP with a warning sign “Closed by NAPTIP keep Off” written on the fence and gate.
Although it was not clear at the time of filing the report if arrests were made.
