Godwin Tsa, Abuja
Karu, a satellite settlement town in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, is known for its vibrant nightlife. In the evenings, men and women are seen at bars, unwinding after a long day’s work to ease themselves of the hassles encountered in the course of the day.
The proliferation of hotels, drinking joints and clubs in the past few years has stimulated an active nightlife to match the influx of people who seek a fun. Also, some of these hanouts provided residents the opportunity to unwind and fraternize with pals and business partners. Indeed, life is fun in any of the many gardens in Karu.
Besides, music, drinking and dancing, food and other delicacies are at hand to complete the fun. They include African and English dishes, roasted fish, chicken, suya meat, pepper soup of different kinds and women of all shapes and sizes. Don’t forget to mention the popular cigarette and shasha spots.
As the evening progressed, other forms of entertainment such as nightclubs, live bands and bars would begin to come alive. At this time, you would see fun seekers wining and dining and shuffling their feet to the rhythm of music played by DJs and live bands.
Music, they say, is food for the soul and so, the perfect way to spend a sleepless night in Karu would certainly be indulging in a live band binge. And there are so many spots to relax and enjoy a classy liveband experience. Young boys and girls are seen at the dancing halls shaking their bodies in a competitive way.
The several relaxation spots and hotels are always jam-packed with each relaxation centre trying to outdo the other by adding something different to its services such as cocktail, comedians and dancers in a bid to endear itself to more regulars.
Indeed, the increasing numbers of nightclubs inject so much power into a bubbling nightlife of residents and other fun seekers. Daily Sun observed that the growth of nightclubs provided a fresh avenue for most residents and visitors to unwind, drink, dance and socialize.
It is now common sight in most parts of town, especially the nightclubs to see such crawlers at night who are out to have a good time. Most of them, especially youths, patronise the drinking joints that litter the city.
When our reporter visited one of the nightclubs, young girls and boys, all students were in control of things. As the DJ carefully dished out mostly Nigerian hit songs, female dancers enchantedd guests with suggestive steps. There were few, if any, empty seats around. Those uncomfortable with the choking air; peppered by burning cigarettes, caroused outside.
Girls aged between 14 and 20, serenaded on a stage to the delight of the lustful audience. The condition for picking a girl home is paying between N3,000 to N4000 for her to leave the stage.
A spot at the junction close to the EFCC Training School, is a popular commercial sex spot in Abuja, where women of sizes, ages and shapes compete for attention. Provocative in their outfits and weird makeup, the ladies of the night show the stuff they are made of, and would do the unthinkable to woo a man.
“Bros feel bobby wey still stand, bobby wey never fall,” one quipped in pidgin English on a recent evening, summoning a prospective customer to have a feel of her bosom.
Sex is not exactly cheap here. Hookers at this junction peg their asking price between N5,000 and N10,000 for an all-night, and charge N2,000 for a quickie. It is the bargaining power that matters, after all. But what the girls do not tolerate is time wasting, for as the night winds down, prices crash.
One lady who agreed to speak said she opted for the trade to support family members back home: “Bros na condition, I get two pikin for village, I dey feed and train for school with this job.” She explained how they alternate between the four brothels as consistent customers ask for new faces.
A tour of Karu nightlife zones shows just how lucrative commercial sex can be in a nation’s capital, and how crooked pimps make a fortune trafficking mostly poor girls from far-flung states to sell sex in Abuja.
Despite its tinge of trafficking, the Abuja sex industry knows no regulation. While most girls operate from the streets, others are ferried in from other states and are handed rooms to operate from.