The nine girls are within the age bracket of 15 to 23 years, according to the police.
The police in Anambra State, south-east Nigeria, said they have rescued nine girls who were being used as sex slaves in a hotel in the state.
The police spokesperson in the state, Tochukwu Ikenga, disclosed this in a statement on Monday.
Mr Ikenga, a deputy superintendent of police, said the victims were rescued during a raid of the hotel in Awka on Monday by police operatives.
The police spokesperson said the proprietor of the hotel was arrested during the operation but did not mention the name of the hotel.
He said the operation was in response to a tip-off from the Anambra State Ministry of Women and Social Welfare at about 6:00 p.m. on Sunday.
The nine girls were within the age bracket of 15 to 23 years, he said.
"Meanwhile, further interrogations/confessions of the rescued girls reveal that the respective persons that brought them to the brothel lured/enticed them on the assurances of giving them jobs to alleviate the poverty of their parents and dependents," Mr Ikenga said.
The police spokesperson said the rescued girls confessed to being taken from Ebonyi, Enugu, Akwa Ibom and Rivers states.
He said the police in the state were collaborating with the ministry to ensure that the girls were adequately cared for and reunited with their parents and guardians.
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"The command has condemned the act and frowned at such persons who take advantage of vulnerable individuals to make money and described such places as a den where criminals take refuge," Mr Ikenga said.
The police spokesperson said the case has been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department for investigation and that those involved in the matter would be charged in court afterwards.
He urged residents of the state to continue to support the police with information about similar places where sex slaves were being harboured, saying the security agencies were ready to take action.
"Be assured that all information passed through these channels shall be treated with utmost confidentiality," the police assured the residents.
Prohibited in Nigeria
Nigeria in 2015 enacted the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act which outlawed all acts of human trafficking in the country, including trafficking for sexual exploitation.
The Act prescribes a minimum penalty of five years imprisonment and a fine of N1 million for trafficking relating to sex and labour exploitation.
Several persons have been convicted for similar offences across the country.
The Children, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Magistrate Court in Awka, Anambra State, in February, convicted a 35-year-old woman who trafficked and forced four teenage girls into prostitution.
A Federal High Court in Benin, Edo State, in 2018, sentenced 49-year-old Ehie Ehirobo to three years imprisonment for human trafficking.
Mrs Ehirobo was convicted of procuring persons for prostitution, among others.
