Nine female sex slaves have been rescued in Anambra State by the operatives of the state police command.

The police operatives also arrested the proprietor of the hotel where the girls, aged between 15 and 23, were being harboured for the immoral business.

The spokesperson of the Anambra State police command, deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Ikenga Tochukwu, who confirmed the incident yesterday, said the rescue of the girls and arrest of the owner of hotel, which was situated in Awka, Anambra State capital, followed information received from the state Ministry of Women and Social Welfare.

The police image-maker in the state explained that investigation by the police showed that the affected girls hail from different states in the South East and South South, including Ebonyi, Enugu, Akwa Ibom and Rivers.

He disclosed further that the girls confessed that the people who brought them and lured them into the immoral act had earlier promised that they were going to help find jobs for them so that they would be able to support their parents.

Tochukwu condemned the action of the people who lured the girls into the immoral business and said the police command was collaborating with the state Ministry of Women and Social Welfare to make sure that the rescued girls were properly taken care of and safely returned to their respective parents or guardians.

Tochukwu warned those who take advantage of indigent girls to make illicit money to desist from such condemnable business, and said the police command was ready to purge the state of brothels.

He also urged members of the public to volunteer information about such places, even as he gave assurance that the command will treat such information with utmost confidentiality.