Most weekends, when the open bar at a popular guest house, situated on Opebi Road in Ikeja, Lagos, is crammed with revellers, dozens of young women in various modes of skimpy dressing line up on both sides of the road in obvious competition for the attention of the men folk.
For these young women, whose ages could be between 18 and 30, the festive atmosphere around the guest house presents an opportunity to engage in prostitution, the infamous and ‘oldest profession’ in the world.
Some of the sex workers, like the pretty, light-skinned Jessica – who walked up to Punch correspondent in a moment of desperation sometime ago – hang out at the fun spot nearly every day. As always, the objective is to make ends meet.
“I need money, bros. If I no make money dis night, dem fit drive me comot for the hotel wey I dey stay,” she says, in Pidgin English.
Like many others, Jessica has to ‘make money’ by selling her body in order to keep body and soul together, as they say. On that Friday night, it was her turn to pay the rent – about N5,000 – for a room she shares with two other girls in a rundown hotel that is situated just off Ogundana Street on Allen Avenue in Ikeja.
In addition to taking care of her other needs, she has to provide financial support to her mother, a poor widow, and her younger siblings back in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
Asked why she did not look for a job instead of engaging in prostitution, she says, “Bros, I no go school. Na how I go come see better job? Who go employ me? Even university graduates never see job, not to talk of person wey no get certificate.”
But Jessica is only one out of many women whose continued existence depends on how many men they sleep with. Unfortunately, with the current economic situation in the country, it appears that the number of such people may continue to rise for a while.
Runs girls’ on campus
Although nobody seems to know exactly how it started, it is no longer news that prostitution has found a foothold in many of the nation’s universities. On campuses across the country, female students who indulge in this illicit trade are known as ‘runs girls’. It is not difficult to spot them in a crowd. They are usually the flashy types, often dressed ‘to kill’ in designer clothes and shoes. One could tell from their expensive handbags and perfumes, the latest smart phones they carry and high quality weaves on their hair that they are several miles apart, at least in economic terms, from the average female undergraduate. Quite a number of them can also be found cruising on campuses in luxury cars.
“Three out of every five female students on campus won’t mind doing one or two ‘runs’ to get what they need,” a 300-level undergraduate of the University of Lagos, known as Timi, tells Punch correspondent.
Asked how he arrived at the figures, he replies, “I am part of the game, oga. I know what I am saying. Some of these girls are not doing it because of poverty. It is not true. I know a few who are from rich families. Some girls are just doing it for fun. Others want to be seen as ‘happening’ girls on campus and they are doing ‘runs’ because their friends are involved.”
Investigation shows that campus prostitutes operate through intermediaries (often male students). These pimps usually approach potential clients with photo albums containing the pictures of the sex workers. The clients or ‘aristos’, as they are called, in turn choose the girls they would like to sleep with for the night at an agreed price.
Nowadays the girls do not have to wait to be picked up by a client from their respective hostels. According to Timi, some weekends, they leave the campus in groups to hunt for clients, in buses provided by some nightclubs operating in different parts of the city or by individuals throwing a big party somewhere.
When the girls arrive at their destinations, they are expected to hook up with clients and make some money. This time, they are left on their own and the pimps, who must have arranged the trips, in the first place, are no longer in the picture.
One common feature among campus sex workers is that they bond together most of the time – a practice that gives room to the notion that many of them were lured into the obnoxious trade through peer pressure.
Sex on the Internet
Emboldened by the changing times and changes in technology, sex workers on this side of the globe have devised newer sophisticated ways to carry out their trade. One interesting dimension of this development is that they now attempt to reach out to potential clients through the Internet.
Finding shows that increased access to the Internet has given more sex workers the opportunity to advertise their ‘services’ online, mostly by posting erotic pictures of themselves, to attract patronage. Sometimes, they leave their email addresses and in some more daring cases, their telephone numbers for interested men who are willing to contact them or ‘book’ ahead.
In other parts of the world, prostitutes and their agents have appropriated the Internet as a marketing tool. The same goes for sex workers in this part of the world.
Some of the most popular social media platforms where Internet-savvy Nigerian sex workers advertise their ‘wares’ and meet potential clients are Facebook, Badoo, Eskimi and Twitter. To make contact with any of the scarlet ladies, an interested individual is required to open an account on any of the platforms, state the type of relationship he wants and choose from an array of female subscribers whose are posted on the site.
Source: Punch; Photo credit: Google