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Security officials in Kumasi have picked up two young girls for engaging in prostitution. The girls, aged 12 and 15, were picked up by security officials at the popular Kumasi hangout of �B.B.� at Asafo, noted for its prostitutes and wee smokers. The barely pubescent Maabena, 12, who has a number of tattoos on her arms, claims she was forced into prostitution and wee smoking by her older friend and also as a means of survival. She alleged that she was initially raped on a number of occasions until she agreed to sell herself. Maabena was driven from school in Class One for non-payment of school fees, and has since been living on the streets because her parents are no longer living together and her aged grandmother has gone blind. The officers, who were on a different security mission, tried unsuccessfully to locate their homes and eventually drove them to the studios of Nhyira FM, where Adom FM�s morning show Dwaso Nsem is being transmitted. Maabena has a flat chest and looks like a typical malnourished 11 or 12 year old. Her colleague Akosua, is now developing breasts but still has boyish features. They both appeared under the influence of mind-altering substances, and confessed to having smoked wee prior to their arrest. A visibly disturbed Captain Smart, host of Dwaso Nsem, could barely speak as he listened to Maabena tell listeners she charges Ghc5 per �client.� She sleeps with about 5 men a night, although her activities are not restricted to the night. But there was more to come. Akosua claimed she started selling her body at the age of 7 after her parents� marriage broke down and she was forced to fend for herself. At age 15, she charges Ghc 7 per �round�, out of which she pays for a hotel room, and uses the rest to take care of herself and her boyfriend. The boyfriend is about 25 years old, she claimed. �I sleep with about 10 men a night. They are grown men, and sometimes I�m afraid. �I don�t know where my father is. I am doing this because I am alone and hungry. Sometimes I smoke wee and cigarette. I smoke about 6 sticks of cigarette a day and also smoke wee. Sometimes I also drink,� she revealed. Akosua�s dream is to be a hairdresser. Pastors and officials of NGOs interested in the welfare of children claimed the story of the two girls was just a tip of the iceberg; the police are aware but are helpless.