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As police investigations into the alleged sex trafficking of 15-year-old schoolgirl Emmanuel Monday progress, her mother, Mrs Eunice Asulie, has reportedly been detained by authorities and is currently being held at Ovwian Police Station, PUNCH Metro has gathered.
Security sources have also indicated that the Delta State Commissioner of Police, CP Olufemi Abaniwonda, “has ordered the consolidation of cases reported at Ovwian Police Station and the missing child case reported at Enerhen Police Station by the child’s mother.”
As a result, the cases are said to “have been transferred to Ovwian Police Station, in preparation for a possible transfer to the State Police Command in Asaba for further investigation.”
Asulie reportedly informed the Enerhen Police Division on Monday, 21 October 2024, that she “had been searching for Emmanuella” after not seeing her for nine days.
The 15-year-old schoolgirl had, last Saturday, raised an alarm in a viral video seen by our correspondent, pleading for help from members of the public after alleging that her mother had sold her to a suspected sex trafficker at Beeland Hotel in Ovwian on 13 October 2024.
In her distress call from a hideout, Emmanuella claimed that she managed to escape from the suspected sex trafficker and subsequently sought refuge with her classmate’s family in Effurun.
Our correspondent has gathered that, following media reports on the allegations made by the schoolgirl, attempts by the investigating police team to gain access to the premises of Beeland Hotel, to investigate the alleged hotel room where the purported transaction took place, were unsuccessful as the investigators were reportedly denied entry by the hotel management.
The investigating team from Ovwian Police Division was said to have led Emmanuella, her mother, the proprietress of Emmanuella’s school, and a human rights activist, Ighorhiohwunu Aghogho, to the hotel on Tuesday as part of the ongoing investigation.
It was further gathered that, in an effort to aid the investigation, Aghogho reportedly requested several documents, including Emmanuella’s birth certificate, mental health records, education and school attendance records, and immunisation records, “to be provided by Mrs Eunice Asulie, the mother.”
Asulie was also asked to provide identification documents, proof of occupation, income, and financial records, a Custody Order, and her marriage certificate to Emmanuella’s biological father.
Meanwhile, PUNCH Metro has learnt that the National Human Rights Commission has been notified of the ongoing development regarding the alleged child trafficking case, and the Delta State Coordinator has also been informed.
When contacted on Wednesday, the command’s spokesperson, Bright Edafe, told PUNCH that he was “not aware whether Emmanuella’s mother is being detained by the police or not.”
“What I am aware of, however, is that the Commissioner of Police has already called for the transfer of the case to the Command Headquarters,” Edafe said.
