The police in Lagos have arrested the owner of Collabor Hotel , an inn on Ige Street in the Iyana Ipaja area of the state , for allegedly hosting underage sex workers in the facility .
The owner of the hotel, John Okon, was apprehended along with the hotel manager, Emmanuel Thomas . Their alleged accomplice , Monica Ita , was said to be at large.
PUNCH Metro learnt that operatives of the Federal Special Anti – Robbery Squad , acting on intelligence, busted the hotel on Saturday , March 10, 2018 , and caught a 15 – year -old primary school leaver allegedly engaging in prostitution .
The girl was said to have been brought from her village in the eastern part of the country by Ita a few weeks ago on the pretext that she (Ita ) would get her a good job .
Our correspondent gathered that one Destiny Bassey , 19 , and 18- year – old Bright Effiong , who was said to have been at the inn for three years, were also picked up by the operatives .
During a parade on Tuesday at the Lagos State Police Command headquarters in Ikeja , the hotel operators admitted to providing service for the sex workers , except the 15- year – old girl .
The hotel manager, Thomas , said , “ It is true that we provide rooms for sex workers where men visit them . We collect N 5 , 000 from them (the sex workers ) every week . We don’ t give them out to men; they bring their customers themselves . ”
The 15 – year – old told PUNCH Metro that Ita persuaded her to come to Lagos when she ( Ita ) saw her playing around the village .
She said , “I finished from primary school two years ago , but I could not continue my study because my parents died . Aunty Monica (Ita ) came to the village and asked me to follow her to Abuja . She said she would get me a good job .
“ Some days after I got to Lagos , she took me to the hotel to do prostitution . I had yet to get a room when the police came to pick us . ”
Bold and unabashed , Bassey , who gave her age as 25, said she slept with five men per day and collected N 2 , 000 from each of her customers .
The Imo State indigene added that joblessness pushed her to the act .
She said , “Nobody forced me into prostitution . I have been hustling at the hotel for some years now . I send part of the money I make to my relatives in the village for the upkeep of my child . I don’ t have parents and my husband is dead .
“ I sleep with five men every day, so I make as much as N 10, 000 . I pay the hotel N 5 , 000 every week . I wanted to save enough money for my education . ”
Effiong, an indigene of Calabar , Cross River State, also said she went to bed with five men daily , adding that some of her customers paid N 1 , 000 .
“ I came to the hotel last year and paid N 3 , 000 per week for a room. I did only one round with each customer , ” she added .
The Lagos State Commissioner of Police , Edgal Imohimi , said the command swung into action following a tip – off that a syndicate was running a prostitution ring .
“ A team of FSARS operatives stormed Collabor Hotel and arrested a 15- year – old girl . She confessed that she was brought to the hotel some weeks ago by one Monica Ita . The coordinators of the prostitution ring , Emmanuel Thomas and John Okon , were also arrested .
The case will be charged to court at the completion of investigation , ” the CP added.
