‘Woman Boku’:The reddest of red-light districts

Weekly Trust survey can reveal that the neighbourhood consists of brothels, which also serve as a residential area for people with their families, as well as shop owners who run their businesses. Our reporter who visited ‘Woman Boku’ for three days gathered that most of the girls who operate as commercial sex workers there pay […]

Weekly Trust survey can reveal that the neighbourhood consists of brothels, which also serve as a residential area for people with their families, as well as shop owners who run their businesses. Our reporter who visited ‘Woman Boku’ for three days gathered that most of the girls who operate as commercial sex workers there pay brothel owners every month for the rooms they occupy. In a long chat with some of the girls, one of them, a young, tall and light-skinned lady, Jessica (not real name) in her not-so-polished English told our reporter that she charges her clients differently depending on their appearance. “There are big boys who can drop any amount without bargaining and there are others who do price to the minimum range,” she said.

Jessica, however, disclosed that the least she collects is N1,500 even if the client is as young as 16.

She also said her new modus operandi is to do her business in her room in the brothel. She has vowed not to follow clients to their apartments or hotel room due to a recent sad event that happened to her closest friend. “I lost my closest friend in one of such escapades. We were together that day. In fact, we were supposed to go together, because the clients were two in number, but I was on my monthly flow, so I decided to stay back while she left with them after agreeing on a price, about N15,000 for the night.

“We didn’t know that they were agents of ritual killers. Immediately they left that day, something in my subconscious kept telling me that all was not well. I didn’t see her return in the morning, which later stretched to two days. I then reported to our brothel manager, who also informed the police. After three weeks, her dismembered corpse was found somewhere around Suleja,” Jessica narrated to our reporter.

She further shared with Weekly Trust her economic status, saying on the average, she makes a hundred or more thousand monthly aside what she pays as brothel charges. What about HIV/AIDS?, “You be NGO person abi you be doctor? I look like person wey sick? I no dey sick o, na only during my menstruation I dey feel small fever. I actually don’t know any HIV status and I don’t want to know. Dat one na like killing yourself. I know my friends wey NGO people make go do that test. The ones wey no get mind don die go,” she said.

Jessica revealed the only condition which makes her to have indiscriminate, unprotected sex. “Like I told you, I charge N2,000 for one round with a condom. I have original condom that I give to my clients. But for clients who believe in unprotected sex, I charge N3,500 to N4,000 for a round”.

Most of the girls in ‘Woman Boku’ are within the ages of 22 and 30 years. Our reporter found out that most of them have another central meeting point within the same Kubwa axis. They usually go out in search of clients at hotels.

According to one Anita (not real name) who operates within Kubwa, “If I want to attend a live band show, I usually go to Ignobis. There are prospective clients there. I don’t really like going to town (Wuse II, Maitama). The stress of having to transport yourself early in the morning back to Kubwa is not funny to me, because no client would come and drop you off after paying you the bargained amount.

As our reporter switched to another small, local brothel within the ‘Woman Boku’ axis, he saw about 14 young girls dressed in skimpy outfits, some sitting and having some drinks, some smoking while others asked, “Are you ready for some show?”

Just like other girls with boyfriends and fiancés, some of the girls in ‘Woman Boku’ brothels have theirs. Rita told our reporter about a guy who proposed marriage to her. She said he lives in Enugu. I cannot tell you his name, but he is from my place (Enugu). He is a trader; we are planning to get married next year by God’s grace. When asked if her fiancé is aware of her ‘profession,’ she said she can’t dare let him know. “He knows that I am a student; that is all. I am a genuine student. This is my ID card (showing our reporter a university ID card) one of the eastern universities.”

She further lamented that her poor economic background is what precipitated her to the trade of commercial sex. “We are six in the family — my mother, father and four of my siblings. My dad is a retired railway worker and my mother sells petty foodstuffs. We were experiencing a very terrible condition of living. It so happened that I secured admission and lacked the resources to enrol into the school and then my female cousin invited me to Abuja and introduced me to this trade.

“She showed me the ropes. My style is slightly different. It’s not every Tom, Dick and Harry that I deal with. I protect myself to the maximum. Nobody in my family is aware of this thing I’m doing. I have promised to quit very soon before my wedding next year. I’ll ask God for forgiveness and will also work hard to provide for my children, so that my kids, especially the females, won’t have any reason to do what I had to do to keep body and soul,” she said.

The manager of the brothels told Weekly Trust in confidence that the girls are making more money than one can imagine. “You can pity them and their kind of trade, but let me tell you, these girls make hundreds of thousands of naira. Some have houses they built in their hometowns. We are together with them here; we know the traffic of customers they get, especially the pretty ones. Like Evelyn, for example (not real name), many men that claim to be “big boys” in Kubwa fight over her,” he said.

He however said they don’t stay in a particular brothel for a long period. One of their business strategies is the concept of relocation. “They know that the moment you overstay in a particular brothel, clients that are regular here would begin to get bored with you, so the newer the place, the better for the business. For us, it is a soldier go, soldier come affair. I have been working here for over five years and I cannot remember the different sets of ladies we have had over this period,” the manager said.

A client who was obviously coming out of one of the “theatres,” as the brothel rooms are popularly called, was not generous with information to this reporter as he said, “Wetin carry you come here? I no fit tell you anything”.

Investigations revealed that Nigeria as a country generally has a large number of adolescents making a living from commercial sex trade. However, there are different forms of adolescent prostitutes: those in brothels, street walkers, call girls and casual, part-time or floating prostitutes, as well as the trafficking of adolescent girls across international borders. The causes of adolescent prostitution in Nigeria are largely attributed, but not limited to economical factors. In a bid to reduce the trend to the barest minimum, two dimensional approaches were adopted in considering the attitudes to prostitution. Coping mechanism have been identified to include endurance, self-medication, seeking medical attention and adaptation.

Some effects of commercial sex trade are psychological reactions, psycho-social damage, the political implication which damages the image of a nation, family and clan images. Some researchers in this field have suggested many ways to combat the social menace, but a sociologist, Dr Thomas Nankin, suggests that proper legislative steps as well as realistic policy formation that are geared towards the welfare of Nigerian citizens are the key to tackling the issue. He further said from the social perspective, adequate awareness programmes on the dangers, detriment and effects of commercial sex trade, as well as community consciousness and value re-orientation would go a long way in bringing about sanity.