Fred Itua, Abuja
There was a mild drama yesterday when the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) mobile court commenced the trial of commercial sex workers who were arrested at various nightclubs and red light districts within the city.
The operations carried out by a combined task force team of the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB) and the Social Development Secretariat (SDS) resulted in the arrest of over 30 sex workers and nude dancers
Trouble started when about eight out of the suspects, who were arraigned at the mobile court alighted from the vehicle. One of the suspects, who identified herself as Comfort Abbah, openly accused some of the task force members of “having sex “ with her colleagues and releasing them illegally.
Angry that only eight out of over 30 people arrested were brought before the magistrate, Abbah said: “We were more than 30 that were arrested by the task force. The task force members, after having sex with some the girls, released them. We are here because nobody came to get us out.”
However, the protest by the suspect did not stop the arraignment, as the prosecution counsel, Eze Eze, read the charges against the suspects before the magistrate who was already seated to hear the matter.
After reading the charges of dancing naked and causing public nuisance which the prosecution counsel said violated section 35 of the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB) Act, four of the suspects pleaded guilty, while four said they were not guilty of the offence.