By Lawrence Enyoghasu And Vera Wisdom-Bassey
As dusk descended like a bird of prey on the city of Lagos, some white-collar workers could be seen hurrying to get home. But that was the time Sharon and her colleagues chose to begin their own job. They dressed for the business of the night by wearing revealing outfits that left nothing to the imagination. They paraded the street of Adaranijo, Lagos, hunting for ‘customers’ or clients. From their looks, they were ready to do anything to earn some money that night. Their eyes spoke of desperation. Not surprisingly, they took to dragging any man that crossed their paths, whether they were looking for fun or not.
On sighting the reporter, Sharon, a lady in her 20s, rushed at him, her right hands dragging his. The pull was short, forceful, yet inviting. Sensing how good-naturedly the reporter responded to her touch, she moved her hand up his neck. Then she brushed his body with her busty breasts. They felt as soft as a pillow. Some tantalizing black nipples were visible from underneath her wear. Standing at about 5.7m in height, she was a little taller than the reporter. But each time he tried to look away from the temptress, she would rub her breasts a little harder on his body until he was forced to focus on her again. He could do nothing but stand there gazing at her. Very certain that she had gotten his full attention, she smiled and asked him to name the sex service he preferred.
“I can make you come here and now if you don’t have a hotel room,” she said to him suggestively. She then showed him hidden places where they could go to satisfy their sexual cravings. But sensing some sign of disbelief in the reporter’s eyes, she called out to one of her friends. “Baby come! Shey, we dey do de do here?” That one nodded. “It seems that this guy is a JJC,” she stated. Still holding him tightly by his hand, she led him to one of the places. The time was about 8 pm. Some weak rays of light from the floodlight had turned a blue Toyota car parked nearby to green, and an ashen Lexus to black.
“Do you have your N1000 cash? I don’t like transfer,” she said as they approached the chosen sex spot. Actually, the reporter had deliberately chosen that spot with the belief that Sharon would raise some objection. But surprisingly, she did not. Before then, she had suggested some places which the reporter flatly rejected, with some reasons. The first was at the back of a kiosk located behind a long fence. But on the other side of the fence is the Akowonjo Road, Egbeda, Lagos. Beside pedestrians using its sidewalk, there were big, gaping holes on the old fence that would make it very easy for passersby to view any activity going on. But as you pointed out those flaws to her, you were shocked to discover that she did not mind at all as long as she was able to make the quick money she was expecting. “Na look them go look,” she said, “we go dey enjoy ourselves.”
The second place she opted for was beside an abandoned car. The car was just off the street and hidden but not so much from prying eyes. She told the reporter that such a place was to his advantage as most girls usually develop aches from assuming such a position, which requitred that they bend over. But if there were no alternatives, she would do it, she said, but only on one condition: “You will have to add an extra N500 to the N1000 bill because that position no be awa way. The market is down na; na why I wan give you extra. No be every man get money for the middle of the month.”
The reporter soon after dismissed her, telling her that he was no longer in the mood. But before she could go crazy and explode in anger over what was to her a humiliating experience, the reporter pressed into her hand more than the agreed fee and told her he was leaving. He promised to do it with her another day. But as he was about to go, she ran after him to ask for his phone number.
The weird world of Lagos call-girls
Welcome to the weird world of call-girls in Lagos as dictated by the current harsh economic times. Unlike in the past, you no longer need a hotel room or dedicated guesthouse like Chidinma Ojukwu and Usifo Ataga, the late SuperTV boss, used before you can have fun. And, it doesn’t matter whatever style you chose to go for, with the call-girl. In many parts of Lagos, you can now have it in the open, in full view of passersby. Who cares? If they don’t know how to look away from tempting sights, that’s their own cup of tea, So says the call-girl. She doesn’t mind, doesn’t care. So, why should you, her client? She is shameless. So, you should be. Enjoy yourself and get lost in the crowd again from whence you came to patronise her service. Nobody will ever recognize you. That’s the philosophy behind the current state of hedonism with commercial sex. And woe betide those who act sane in the community of insane people.
Welcome to modern-day Sodom and Gomorrah. Welcome to the live-and-direct side of virtual reality in the commercial sex business. Welcome to live pornography on our streets. Do it in the open. Do it in full view of people. And at a very cheap price too. Though they also do the room-type, there’s this desperation to beat competitors in the game! So, in that kind of situation, anything goes. That’s how to survive these hard times, so says the gospel according to call-girls.
At Ejigbo, Mechanic Village, our reporter encountered a similar licentious scene. The call-girls at a popular bar (names withheld) flowing with a lot of them, exhibited the same traits as those at Egbeda, Akowonjo, Lagos. This particular bar is highly patronized by men in the area. It was there that he had a revealing encounter with a call-girl called Anita.
Dark-complexioned, she claims to come from Benin. When the reporter approached her, she said that she would not be available as her roommate was using their common room for sex service. But she asked him to exercise some patience as she would soon finish with her client. But he pretended to be in a hurry. Not wanting to lose him, she suggested they have it behind one of the parked trailers. Mechanic Village has a very lengthy street that leads to Jakande Estate. But parked on it are different articulated vehicles, cars, and motorbikes. The street which is occupied mainly by mechanics and Hausa traders is home to different shapes and sizes of commercial sex workers.
Reluctantly, our reporter agreed with Anita who requested for a quickie behind one of the trucks parked close to the walls of the bar. But on getting to the first spot, they discovered that there were some people making use of the spot. The couples didn’t see them as they were backing Anita and the reporter. “No be only me dey use here o,” she announced in an effort to ease the tension that she perceived rising on his face. Thereafter, they proceeded to an open bus. It turned out that the bus apparently abandoned by the mechanics, had no seat inside. Gone too were the steering wheel and the entire dashboard. Anita entered and sat on the engine cover before waving at the reporter to follow. But he took one long look at the scene, shook his head, and told her that he would rather wait till her roommate was done with her client. After obtaining from her some information on how long the waiting would last, he left with a promise to come back another time.
But if the mountain cannot come to Mohammed, for obvious reason, then Mohammed should consider going to the mountain. This is exactly what happened at a hotel in a one-storey building located on Gbadamosi Street, close to Gbadamosi Bus Stop, Ijesha Road, Lagos. There, without any prompting, one Anabel, a fair-skinned prostitute approached the reporter, singing a love song from Chike: “I will be running, running to you. Brother, should I run or not?”
Before he could answer her question, he found the lady all over him, rubbing her pointed breasts on his chest region with the hope of sexually arousing him. But soon the issue of price came in between them. Anabel had requested N1500 for a short time but the reporter insisted on giving her something less. She said she could only consider it if the reporter would not need the comfort of her room.
“I can only agree with that if you go agree to do it with me at a shop corner,” she stated. There are shops located opposite their building. She pointed to them as an alternative. Other clients could be seen sitting on some benches and tables. Some smoked with the girls while others could be seen doing their thing right in the open, oblivious of staring eyes. Nobody cared because they are, obviously, used to such sights. Anabel suggested a much quieter place in order to avoid the smoke.
Places where they ply their trade
Indeed, the sex business has become an open trade in most parts of Lagos. In Ikeja, the city’s capital, you could see them standing on Adeniyi Jones, Tony Street, and even Under Bridge, to wait or scout for clients. Some of the places they stay to ply their trade are residential areas with refined and urban settings, workplaces, and shopping centres. The mentioned streets are known for business in the day. But at night, the night crawlers and sex hawkers turn the area into something else.
These girls are between 18 and 40. If you observed carefully, you would see them dressed in their lingerie, bras, or pants with a topless gown that makes some of them look naked or half-dressed. A visit to one of the joints on Adeniyi Jones, at night, will bring you in contact with different sizes and shapes of them as they line up along the street to wait to be picked up either as sex hawkers or strippers or both.
Investigations by our reporters show that they earn as much as N30, 000 per night on a good day. According to one of them who chose to be identified simply as Blessing, she makes nothing less than N10, 000 from one or two clients. She said that sex work, for her, pays better than her fashion design work. When asked how regular she is at sex work, she said she comes there almost every day to make some money.
“I am a fashion designer during the day, while I come here at night to hustle,” she said. “Sex work moves here and it’s being valued. To have a quickie with me goes for nothing less than N5, 000. And on a poor day, I will have at least two quickie sessions. But I charge N10, 000 for all-night sexual engagement.”
One of Blessing’s colleagues, who identified herself as Ife, claimed to be processing her admission into the university and only comes to Allen Avenue, Ikeja, to earn money for survival.
“I earn as much as N20, 000. But on a poor day, I earn from N5, 000 to N10, 000 without paying for rent or anything. The only thing I pay for is condom to protect myself.”
Findings show that they can choose to have sex with their clients anywhere: inside the car or rented bank security rooms and toilets. At Agege and Dopemu, they prefer to have it inside the toilets of the bars. At Ikeja, the residential areas where they hang out to ply their trade include Allen Avenue, Adeniyi Jones, Ogba, offices around the Aromire Street/ Adeniyi Jones junction.
Clients who patronise these ladies are majorly businessmen. According to them, some of them come to buy goods and may need to travel back to their stations the following day. So, if they choose to unwind, they come to them. Most people living in these areas just close their eyes to the goings-on there since they know them to be red-light districts. But nothing of such takes place within the estates where people live.
For those living on Adeniyi Jones, the children are hardly found outside their homes and therefore do not have the opportunity of being exposed to the evil trade going on around the area. But in other parts of Lagos such as Egbeda and Ijesha the children see as much as anyone who passes around the corners.
Hunting styles
There are different hunting styles adopted by these ladies of easy virtues. They could walk around in their skimpy, transparent wear. But ordinarily, most of them prefer gowns, especially the shiny, sparkling type that give out some sparkle when they come under the light. The commercial sex workers might look normal while waiting for clients. But immediately they sense a potential client coming their way, they put on some beguiling smiles while some try to lift up their skirts to fire up your imagination as to seduce you. “You can have this,” some of them would say. “I go do you well”, or “I go dey on top of you.”
Most of the girls don’t like far locations. But a few don’t mind. So, while trying to persuade a customer, those who can afford to do so, indicate it. Such ladies could shout, “I go follow you go anywhere.”
At a hotel located on Dopemu-Egbeda Road, the ladies come flocking around your car, as you try to find a space to park. This is then followed by the question: “Do you mind company?”
Mixed reactions on the temptation they pose
With the sexy, seductive way they dress and appear, these ladies, it is said, serve as objects of temptation to decent men who want to remain morally pure. They make themselves look attractive not only to playboys but also to sincere men. Any man that has blood flowing in his vein is likely to fall for them as they display their wares – curvaceous bodies such as you meet with in Playboy magazines, skimpy or transparent dresses, and of course, nice smell from some gorgeous or top-notch perfumes.
Bobby Nobel, Delta State indigene, confessed that he always finds these irresistible. “They are attractive,” he said. “Sometimes, they don’t need to call you before you find yourself going to them by yourself. I don’t have any problem with that. What I have problem with is, they no longer wait till it is the night before coming out. Milling around about 5 pm and flaunting their flesh in the open, and even really willing to do it where prying eyes can see them are really bad.”
Christopher Onah who hails from Enugu State confessed that he too struggles with the temptation of keeping his eyes off them, because of their pretty looks. “There is no day that passes that I don’t come to this bar just to feed my eyes on the girls,” he observed. “I think seeing them almost naked relaxes my mind. No matter how tired I am, once I get here, I am energised after setting my eyes on them. It is very hard to explain but I find it soothing.”
At the Sceptre of Judah Parish of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Egbeda, Lagos, located near a hotel and bar, Saturday Sun asked Ogechi Anikume, one of the members, if the prostitutes milling around the area pose any temptation to their members, especially their men-folk. To this, she shrugged her shoulders and said: “Some of these girls go to church more than some believers. They have normal friends. They are human beings but decide to make money in an unacceptable way. As far as I am concerned, there is no difference between them and those who swindle people. They just chose to use their body. They may tempt men generally, but I am not sure they can entice men who are on their way to church and have their minds set on worshipping God in spirit and truth.”
Risks and achievements
Prostitution is a very risky job. Chioma recalled how she was abandoned by a customer at a hotel in Ijesha, Surulere, Lagos, after being impregnated by him. She was insulted by the manager of the hotel and asked to leave the premises. Today, she is the mother of one boy who she fondly calls “Paapa”. “I can’t wait for his father, jo,” she said. “He has to eat. After all, I am the one who decided to keep the pregnancy. I wanted a baby and I had it. So, I am doing this to take care of him.”
The risk involved could sometimes lead to death. Not long ago, a call-girl was reportedly murdered at a guest house located in Ejigbo (name withheld). According to the news, the young lady’s eyes, breasts, and private parts were found missing when her body was eventually discovered in one of the rooms. This led to a temporary closure of the hotel. But it has since swung back into business after oiling some hands, it was alleged.
But raise that argument with them and some of them are sure to ask whether there’s any job in this world without any risk attached. They are also likely to add that as there are losses so there are gains. Take, for instance, Christiana, a former call-girl. Before she left Lagos for Spain early this year, she used to ply her trade at Ikotun, at a hotel located on Aliu Street, off Liasu Road. The lady who travelled to Ghana and Cameron before applying for a visa to Spain claimed she was able to establish a phone shop for her younger brother in Delta State, from the money she made from prostitution. Today, he sells phone accessories.
“We had no one to help us,” she said when one of our reporters put a call through to her after obtaining her number from her colleague who is still in the business. “Our uncles took all our father’s property and left us with nothing to sustain us. My mother was ill for a long time. I was begging for help. But I stopped the work after I got something to help them.”
Mixed reactions from residents
There are residents who frown at the presence of the girls. But there are others who don’t care. Arguing that their presence makes for unwholesome influence on their children, Femi Adeyanju, living on Gbadamosi Street said if he had the power, he would have sent them packing from the area.
“Apart being a sin, it is an eyesore seeing ladies make money with their body”, he noted. “Our children will see them and think it is normal. They also invite bad people to our area.” Mrs. Shola Adodo agrees. “Most girls want to have what they can’t afford,” she remarked. “They follow their mates to do what they do just to be seen. They don’t have the patience to start something and see it grow. They smoke from the windows and try to spoil our children for us.”
But a woman who sells food at a shop located opposite a prostitute lodge, on Okunola Road, Egbeda, said she had never given it a thought because it is none of her business. “I have never thought about it,” she said. “I just make sure my children don’t mix up with them. I don’t even know their names. For me, it is business. The boys who patronize them also patronize me.”
Although they are making money the wrong way, Saturday Sun learned that the police hardly disturb them but often allow them to practise their flesh trade. At the popular bar in Ejigbo, the police personnel in the area are said to constantly raid the area but their target is the boys who lurk around and do drugs, and not call-girls. In these days of economic meltdown, the brand new style of prostitution characterised by open, public sex, seems to have become the new crypto-currency for many young women in Lagos.