Widow Uses School Girls As Sex Slaves In Lagos

The police in Lagos State have arrested a 32-year-old
woman, Chinoso Okonkwo, for allegedly using pupils of
some secondary schools in the Ikate, Surulere area, as
commercial sex workers.
PUNCH Metro learnt that Okonkwo was arrested on
Wednesday after residents gave the police a tip-off that
some teenage schoolgirls were being taken to a hotel in
the area – Sunderland Hotel – for sex during school hours.
Our correspondents gathered that Okonkwo allegedly
worked with a syndicate which usually went to the school
to lure the victims out during school hours.
The girls reportedly always removed their school uniforms
and put on clothes provided by the syndicate.
PUNCH Metro learnt that Okonkwo also allegedly posed as
a nurse to deceive her victims.
The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni,
who paraded the suspect, said investigation was ongoing
into the matter.
He said, “Detectives arrested her on Wednesday. Her mode
of operation is to target some secondary schools in the
area. She, together with her cohorts, would go to the
schools and get the girls to a hotel. The hotel is located in
Ikate, Surulere. She would change their clothes and use
them as sex slaves.
“She would keep the girls in the hotel until the school
closing time and make them change back into their
uniforms. Investigation is still ongoing, and we will extend
it to the hotel and the schools which are involved. We want
to see whether there is connivance between the suspect
and the school authorities.”
Speaking with PUNCH Metro, Okonkwo, a mother of two,
said she was based in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, where
she worked as a trader.
She added that she sometimes came to Lagos to work as
a sex worker.
Okonkwo, however, denied knowing any of the schoolgirls,
saying she only worked in the hotel as a commercial sex
worker to raise money for her business in Port Harcourt.
She said, “I am a widow with two children. They are both
in a boarding school in Port Harcourt. I live in Port
Harcourt, but I sometimes come to Lagos to sleep with
men at the hotel. I came to Lagos to find a means of
livelihood.
“I use Sunderland Hotel in Surulere. When I was arrested
by the police, I saw three girls, probably aged 10 or 12,
who claimed I usually picked them from school to the
hotel.
“I don’t know any of them. In fact, let the police visit the
hotel for investigation. I have never seen them before. I
meet men for sex and they give me money. I use the
money to buy clothes and take them to Port Harcourt to
sell. I have been in this job for a long time. I am a familiar
face at the hotel. I do this for a living.”