The Ebonyi State Police Command says it has begun investigations of alleged sexual exploitation of a 20-year-old woman in Abakaliki by a yet-to-be-identified woman.
The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in the state, DSP Loveth Odah, confirmed this on Friday in Abakaliki.
Odah said that the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA), Ebonyi Chapter, facilitated the rescue of the victim, Miss Chinasa Chukwu, and her two-year-old son.
Odah said that the victim was brought to Kpirikpiri Police Division in Abakaliki, having been allegedly exploited sexually by her aunt, a suspect who is now at large.
“Investigation is still ongoing in the division and I have confirmed that the girl was brought to the division by FIDA,” Odah said.
The state FIDA Chairperson, Mrs. Grace Chima, told newsmen that it would ensure that the culprit was made to face the law.
“We got a report on May 20, on a case of sexual exploitation.
“We were told that a young girl was kept in a rented apartment by a woman, whom the victim identified as her aunt.
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“We were also informed that the woman always sent in two to three men in a day to have sex with Chukwu while she watched and get paid at the end of the act.
“So, when we heard about this, we got there immediately on May 21, to rescue the victim from bondage,” Chima said.
She further stated that FIDA in collaboration with the United Nations was committed to ensuring that the rights of women and children were protected in the state.
She promised to update the media as the development unfolded.
The victim, Miss Chukwu, while narrating her ordeal at the state ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, alleged that her aunt always claimed that the money gotten from the act would be used to pay for her training.
The 20-year-old victim from Akaeze in Ivo Local Government Area of the state is currently pregnant and has a two-year-old son.
“My aunt always brought two to three men each day to have sex with me in a rented apartment she got for me while she watched the act,” Chukwu said.
Meanwhile, a hairstylist, Mrs. Chizoba Okemiri, who enrolled Chukwu as an apprentice in her salon, alleged that the victim was subjected to a brutal sexual trade and exploitation by her aunt.
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Okemiri, who corroborated the incident, noted that the victim’s aunt had allegedly continued to arrange both married and young men to sleep with Chukwu in her rented apartment.
She said that the victim revealed that her aunt had threatened to discipline her for disclosing her activities.
“Chinasa was brought to me on Easter day by her mother, aunt and aunt’s friend for the enrollment.
“After the bargaining for her training, her mother pleaded that she would be coming to the salon with her son because she might not cope with the child and her job.
“Another apprentice in my shop had reported to me that men always visited the victim which I discovered and tried to stop her from seeing them.
“When I confronted the victim about the men, she revealed that it was her aunt who arranged for those men.
“When the visit persisted, I called her mum and aunt to confirm the development, but the aunt told me that I will get to know why they visit her, one day.
“I became uncomfortable and had to report the matter to a staff of Nigeria Television Authority (NTA), who now facilitated her rescue,” Okemiri said.