Three persons, Shitu Sale, 38, Sulaiman Lawal, 35 and Adamu Jume, 34, were on Wednesday arraigned in a Katsina Magistrates' Court for allegedly raping three minors.
The accused persons, who reside at Danmusa Local Government Area, appeared before Magistrate Abdurrahman Umar on a count charge of rape.
The police prosecutor, Insp. Hashimu Musa, told the court that the accused conspired and raped the three minors on April 12.
Musa said that one Tanimu Danmusa reported the case at Danmusa Police Division that the accused committed the offence at about 2p.m.
He said that the accused persons criminally deceived the underage girls, while hawking sachet water and had carnal knowledge of them.
The prosecutor said that the accused had established a syndicate that specialised in raping underage girls by luring them with monetary gifts.
Musa said that the case was transferred from Danmusa to the State's Criminal Investigation Department for further investigation.
''During police investigation, the accused confessed that they have been giving some minors N200 for s3x,'' he said.
The accused persons pleaded not guilty to the charge and applied for bail.
The Magistrate said that the court would not grant bail to them as their file had been forwarded to the State's Ministry of Justice for advice.
Umar ordered that the accused to be remanded in prison custody and adjourned till May 25 for continuation.

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