At least 72 commercial sex workers were arrestedThursdaynight as the Benue State Government, in collaboration with the Police, raided five brothels in Makurdi metropolis.

The arrest was followed by a protest organised by a civil society group, the “Women Situation Room Nigeria” against increasing cases of rape and defilement of minors in the country.

Addressing the protesters who marched to the Government House gate, the Special Adviser to the state Governor on Security, Col. Edwin Jando said the Samuel Ortom administration would not tolerate such indecency.

Jando said it was the government’s quest to rid the society of social vices that led to the raid on the rest spots where the sex workers were arrested.

The leader of the protesters, Magdalene Gbazua noted that the group, in partnership with Alliance Against Domestic Violence and Abuse, had facilitated the protest. She said in July, 15 cases of rape of girls between the ages of two and seven were recorded in the state and nothing happened to the rapists.

Gbazua said the recent defilement and death of a 14-year-old girl in Lagos State necessitated the protest. She urged the state government to domesticate the law against rape which was passed by the Federal Government in 2015. (Daily Trust)