By Praise Chinecherem
A woman and her husband have been arrested for attempting to bribe Anambra State Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Welfare, Ify Obinabo, with N2million to enable them continue running their brothel in the state.
The prime suspect, Mrs Ekpereamaka Okonkwor, from Otolo Nnewi, alias “Madam Padded”, operated facilities where underaged girls were being forced into sex slavery in Nnewi, and later relocated to Oba, where she operated as “Ukwu Venza”.
Anambra Daily gathered that the suspect, while in Nnewi, reportedly collected money for the services the girls rendered to men at her brothel.
“On one occasion, three girls she locked inside a room to prevent them from meeting men and collecting money at her back were burnt to death,” a source said.
Police preliminary investigation earlier, had revealed the suspect as a bar owner, while the three victims who lost their lives were waiters in the bar and not prostitutes as alleged.
A viral video had also revealed the underaged girls, with some visibly pregnant at the suspect’s brothel in Oba.
Reacting, Commissioner Obinabo said the suspect went into hiding after the Oba incident, but later resurfaced through her husband, who offered her with the N2 million bribe; with initial payment of N300,000.
She said she played along with the couple following advice by security operatives she contacted, adding that she later met them outside the state where they were eventually arrested.
She said the suspect would be used to get in touch with her victims at the Oba brothel for necessary rehabilitation.
While assuring the matter would be charged to court upon completion of police investigation, Obinabo appealed to those involved in similar jobs to desist forthwith, warning that the current administration was determined to fight the crime to standstill.
