A woman, named Ekpereamaka Okonkwo, popularly known as Ukwu Venza, who hails from Otolo Nnewi, a community in Nnewi North Local Government Area of the state, was arrested on Tuesday, 27th June 2023 by the police in Anambra State for allegedly using underage girls as prostitutes in her brothel.
The arrest was triggered by a viral video circulating on social media, showing a group of youths from the community raiding a particular brothel during which they uncovered multiple underage girls, aged between 13 and 17, who were said to have been coerced into prostitution.
Responding to the incident, Ify Obinabo, the Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Justice, led security agents to apprehend the suspect and her husband. She assured the public that the State Government would spare no effort in bringing them to justice.
According to correspondent, Uche Ndeke of Radio Nigeria, the suspect whose real name is Ekpereamaka Okoronkwor but commonly known as “Madam Padded,” had been arrested in the past, but mysteriously escaped. she later relocated to the Oba community, where she changed her business name to Ukwu Venza and allegedly continued exploiting underage girls.
Ify Obinabo said Ekpereamaka called her on the phone and offered to give her a monthly remittance of the “proceeds but she informed the governor and the police who supported her in playing along with the suspect who paid her N300,000, which was collected as evidence and handed over to the authorities. Subsequently, the suspect consented to a personal meeting which led to her arrest.
The suspect, is now identifying herself as Chioma Okeke, and has denied any wrongdoing. She claims that the girls featured in the video were merely customers who had visited her shop to purchase beverages prior to the arrival of the youths.
DSP Tochukwu Ikenga, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, stated that the investigation is ongoing to locate the underage girls seen in the viral video to provide them with the necessary psychological support and also determine if there are more girls involved beyond those seen in the video.
Story: Christy Dung