Twelve underage girls have been rescued from a hotel on Lagos Island after a 16-year-old reported to a police station that she and others were being forced into prostitution.

The girl told officers she had been brought to Lagos and subjected to maltreatment at the hotel.

Acting on her report, the Commissioner of Police, Tijani Fatai led a team to the location, where they found approximately 30 underage girls being exploited for prostitution.

The hotel owner was not found in the premises during the operation.

Twelve of the girls were taken into protective police custody. The remaining victims are yet to be accounted for.

It was revealed that the woman who brought the 16-year-old to Lagos was later arrested.

The girl, according to police, had not been told she would be forced into sex work when she was transported to the city.