Their lawyer, Jennifer Ogbogu, explained that the ladies pleaded guilty to the charges against them and were summarily convicted and sentenced.
She said, “The ladies were arraigned before the mobile court for pros-titution and were each sentenced to three months in jail with an option of N3,000 fine. We have just paid the fine and all of them have been released from custody.”
The acting FCT police spokesman, ASP Gajere Danjuma, confirmed that 65 ladies were arrested by the task force set up by the FCT minister, adding that 38 were released after they were profiled.
An activist, Martin Obono, who witnessed when the women were brought to the Utako Police Station, Abuja, on Saturday, alleged that some of them were s*xually abused by the security officials.
Obono, in a tweet on his Twitter handle, wrote, “Some have been assaulted with injuries in their private parts. One of the ladies arrested has a two-month-old baby. She was not allowed to breastfeed her baby despite continuous plea amid tears.
“It took the intervention of a female police officer who called the DPO to overrule the decision of the inspector at the time. The joint task force that arrested some of these girls have been allegedly molesting and assaulting them. Some even showed the bruises in their private parts.”
