The Nation Newspaper

Tag: prostitute

  • Being a prostitute is not a crime, says Nse Ikpe-Etim

    Ahead of the cinema release of the new movie which she stars in, ‘Heaven’s Hell’, on May 10, 2019, Nollywood actress Nse Ikpe-Etim has condemned the alleged sexual harassment of women labelled a prostitutes by police officers after a raid on an Abuja night club.

    She disclosed this on Saturday during an event she hosted with her fans at the event, tagged, ‘Conversation with Nse’ which took place in Lekki, Lagos.

    While relating on the incident, the actress said that: “being a prostitute is not a crime. It is a job they chose.”

    Speaking earlier during the session on the roe of money in relationships, she advised me to “be ready because women have decided that we will work. We will no longer rely on men. When I say work, it’s real work ooo. All work is work.”

    The Federal Capital Territory Police Command said it will probe the allegations of sexual assault against its men and punish those found erring.

    On April 27, policemen attached to the FCTA Joint Task Team arrested 34 female strippers at Caramelo night club in Abuja and labelled them as prostitutes. About 70 other women were arrested in other clubs. Arraigned before a mobile court, the women were granted bail on April 29.

    The women alleged some policemen extorted them, beat them and sexually molested them after they arrested and detained at Utako Police Division between April 26 April 29, 2019. They also accused the policemen of releasing those who bribed them with money.

    Read also: Nse Ikpe-Etim: All I want is to live in happiness and pure truth

    And as videos of the raid and interviews of some of the affected women trended on social media, more Nigerians, including Civil Society Organisations, have joined in condemning the police for the act.

    On Friday, the Command spokesman, ASP Gajere Danjuma, said, “a high-powered team has been constituted to investigate the veracity of the allegation.”

    He said that any erring officer would be dealt with. O

    “In this regard, invitations have been sent out to relevant individuals that may assist in getting to the root of the matter.”

  • Girls, God can honour you like He did Rahab the repented prostitute!

    DEAR Sister Temilolu, God bless you in multiples for the Girls Club you have divinely created. It is a great job. You have touched many lives, mended many broken walls and still working on follow up therapy. God will be there for you always ma. Your February 16th article moved me because I have a daughter who has been a “Holy Mary” in the family, an accountant who will be 40 years old. Since the beginning of this year, she has refused to go to church despite family pleadings. Please I’m not comfortable as a mother. Please assist me. Thanks ma.

    Mrs. A.A.

    Greetings Temi,

    Once deflowered is already deflowered and can no longer be a virgin. I suggest no man should pay bride price for any deflowered damsel because her virginity is for her lawful husband.

    Kingsley

    Adebimpe

    Dear Mummy A.A.,

    Many thanks for reaching out to me. May God answer your prayers and surprise you immeasurably this year in Jesus mighty name! I empathise with your daughter because she’s lost hope in settling down in marriage with the man of her dreams in spite her years of living chaste. It may be hard to believe but she is what one can call VIRTUE-OVERLOAD, GLORY-OVERLOAD, A MIRACULOUS TIME-BOMB WAITING TO EXPLODE, more so, A POWER-HOUSE OF GOD, with diverse spiritual gifts at her disposal! She’s carrying so much power and authority that can fetch her the best things in life EFFORTLESSLY! Her imagination can work wonders in her life and anyone she carries in her mind and wishes well! I know what I’m talking about. However, because she doesn’t know the goldmine she is, that useless devil is making her bemoan her fate and she’s probably falling into depression – the very hands of the devil! If care isn’t taken and she doesn’t come out of the doldrums, what she fears may come upon her. If care isn’t taken, out of desperation, she may fling her pearls to a swine!

    A lot of women her age remained chaste but never got married or even succeeded in their endeavors because they never unlocked the key to their greatness by activating the power of God resident in them! In this situation, one’s spiritual awareness and inclination matters a lot so also does where one worships as iron sharpens iron! I shall discuss at length with her as you suggested, we shall all pray together and I can assure you God will not only bring her out of the depths of despair, the rainbow of her glory will appear this very year, our God, the Monarch of the universe who created the Girls Club would increase her greatness and comfort her on every side. You’ll say I said so! Congratulations in advance ma!

    Dear Mr. Kingsley,

    I noticed you re-sent your message after you noticed I didn’t reply the first. What came to mind was that if you are God, you probably would never forgive (smiles). Well, I don’t know what informs your opinion; perhaps it’s your tradition/culture. However, we at Girls Club absolutely believe in God having the final say over all things and if He could honor and place Rahab the Canaanite prostitute in the lineage of Jesus Christ who brought us salvation, making her an ancestor and a biblical heroine then I tell you no man has any reason not to want to marry a Secondary Virgin. You’ll be surprised that a good number of ladies were only manipulated by the devil and never meant to be immoral! If God be for us, who can be against us; if one man won’t marry her because he wasn’t the one who broke the seal (her hymen) as his custom demands then God can always provide even a better person! May God bless you sir!

    My darling, precious, glorious, dignified, world-famous and heavenly celebrated Nigerian sisters,

    In the last two months, I’ve been discussing Secondary Virginity which is making a commitment not to be sexually active again until after marriage after having engaged in sexual intercourse.(You may please Google Girls Club-Saturday Punch for previous articles).

    So far, I have discussed the need for a Mental Renovation facilitated by the power of the Holy Ghost and the need for you to embrace this awesome power which would empower you to subdue your flesh! The spirit of the world is in contention with the spirit of God and until you overcome the spirit of the world starting from your soul, I tell you, you will not only become supernatural, you will begin to fly in the firmaments of dominion! If only you knew what becoming a Secondary Virgin could fetch you this year.!

    • To be continued

  • Prostitute faces assault charge

    A 21-year-old suspected commercial sex worker, Charity Emmanuel, has been brought before an Ikeja Chief Magistrates’ Court for allegedly stabbing her friend with a knife.

    She is facing a charge of assault, occasioning harm.

    Prosecuting Inspector Benson Emuerhi alleged that the accused committed the offence last December 27 at 5pm on Allen Avenue, Ikeja, Lagos.

    According to him, the accused stabbed her friend, Joy Emezie, causing her harm.

    “A fight ensued between the accused and the complainant, who had earlier been having misunderstanding. Suddenly, the accused brought out a sharp object suspected to be a knife and stabbed the complainant.

    “Emezie was taken to hospital because of the injury she sustained,” he said.

    The prosecutor said the case was reported at the police station and the accused was arrested for questioning.

    The accused pleaded not guilty.

    Chief Magistrate Olufunke Sule-Amzat granted the accused N50, 000 bail with one surety in the like sum.

    She said the surety should be employed with evidence of tax payment to the Lagos State Government, adding that he or she must be a relation of the accused.

    Sule-Amzat adjourned till February 28.

  • Bricklayer jailed for assaulting prostitute

    A bricklayer, Edet Imoh, 40, was yesterday at the Ikeja Sexual Offence and Domestic Violence Court sentanced to five years in prison for indecent assault of a commercial sex worker.

    The convict, who brought his belongings to the court thinking he would be freed, having been in custody since 2017, burst into tears on hearing the judgment.

    Although Imoh was charged with rape and stealing, Justice Sybil Nwaka convicted him of indecent assault.

    The judge said the sentence would deter others.

    She said: “I find the defendant guilty of the offence of indecent assault.

    “He is hereby sentenced to five years’ imprisonment. The prison term is to begin from the date of sentencing.

    ” l hope by the time you come out, you would have learnt your lesson by staying away from such act and living happily with your family.”

    Justice Nwaka advised the complainant, Ejiro Umukoro, 25, to desist from prostitution.

    She said prostitution is illegal, adding that the government will soon move to sanitise the state of such act.

    The judge said: “The state is taking this opportunity to warn other intending offenders, those in the commercial sex trade and other perpetrators of sexual offences to desist.”

  • Suspected prostitute found dead in Edo

    The lifeless body of a suspected commercial sex worker simply identified as Precious has found dead by the roadside near a tomatoes market at the Upper Mission extension road.

    A resident in the area said they heard a voice around 4 am where the body was found and they only heard “please,  please take the bag”.

    The witness said they could not come out because the area was dark.

    Bruises were found in the hand and blood was gushing out of the nostrils of the deceased.

    She was half naked and the lifeless body facing downward.

    A staff of the hotel where the deceased and her friends use as contact point for their hustling said the deceased was a commercial sex worker.

    According to the staff, “The truth is that she is a huzzler. I came to the office this morning and I was told that she lefton Monday and has since not returned.

    Read Also: Obaseki and challenges of development in Edo

    “When they call her phone, it will ring and then switch off.  I said we should go to the police station to incident the matter. I had called Aduwawa police station and now asked that they should go and bring her picture, I was waiting for her picture when we heard that a dead body was found along Upper Mission extension.

    “She used to huzzle at Old Road in Aduwawa so we ran down here and discovered that she was the one.”

    A friend of the deceased who does the same hustling said she does not know where the deceased hailed from.

    She said the late precious has an eight months old child.

    Edo police spokesman, DSP Chidi Nwabuzor, said the corpse has been deposited at the mortuary.

    He said police has commenced investigation into the incident.

     

  • Kano Hisbah arrests ‘prostitutes’, seize alcoholic beverages

    No fewer than 10 suspected prostitutes were arrested operatives of the Kano State Hisbah Board, following raids conducted within the Kano metropolis.

    It was gathered that all the suspects apprehended by the state Sharia enforcer were young girls aged between 20 to 25.

    Spokesman of the board, Malam Umar Yakasai said the raids were carried out last week, adding that the suspected women of easy virtue were mostly not from Kano state.

    He explained that some of the suburbs raided by Hisbah were Badawa, Na’ibawa and Race Course.

    He said most of the girls arrested were spotted loitering or waiting by the roadsides apparently soliciting for their prospective customers.

    “Our men saw the girls waiting by the roadsides searching for potential partners to pick them up in their vehicles around 10pm. We knew they were into immoral activities from the way they dressed,” he said.

    Yakasai added that the agency had already charged four of the suspects to court, while the others who he said were first timers, were handed over to their parents and relatives after being admonished.

    He, however, called on parents and guardians to always monitor the movement and activities of their wards to prevent them from falling into immoral acts.

    Also,Yakasai disclosed that the board had confiscated two mini trucks filled with alcoholic beverages.

    He said the drivers of the vehicles and other suspects connected with the smuggling of the prohibited drinks to Kano have been taken to court.

    He added that the illegal drinks were being brought from Lagos, Enugu, and Oyo states.

  • Man to be caned for calling sister-in-law prostitute

    A Sharia Court in Magajin Gari, Kaduna yesterday ordered that Shuaibu Umar be given 80 strokes of the cane for calling his sister-in-law, Suwaiba Abdulkadir, a prostitute.

    Abdulkadir, who filed a case of defamation against her brother in-law, said Umar called her a prostitute after a misunderstanding.   She said: “Shuaibu is my husband’s younger brother. We had a misunderstanding, we exchanged words and he called me a prostitute.

    “I want this honourable court to grant me justice, as what my brother-in-law said about me has tarnished my image.”

    The defendant, who did not deny calling his sister-in-law a prostitute, said he spoke in anger and had no regrets.

    “I was hurt when she called me a drug addict and a thief. That was why I called her a prostitute. I won’t go back on my words,’’ he said. The judge, Malam Dahiru Lawal, ruled that Umar be given 80 lashes of the cane after giving the defendant a chance to withdraw his statement.

    He said: “The defendant confirmed calling his sister-in-law a prostitute and is not ready to withdraw the statement. Therefore, I, Dahiru Lawal, rule that Shuaibu Umar be given 80 strokes of the cane.

    “This is in accordance with the teachings of Prophet Muhammad, which state that one cannot accuse a person of adultery or fornication except one presents four witnesses, who have seen the activity.

    “He is to receive 80 strokes of the cane in place of the person he accused because he has defamed the person.’’

  • Final year student hacks prostitute to death

    Final year student hacks prostitute to death

    A Public Administration final year student of the Institute of Management and Technology (IMT) Enugu, Emmanuel Ezeugwu has been arrested by the police for allegedly killing a commercial sex worker.

    Ezeugwu, who hails from Ezimo in Udenu Local Government Area of Enugu state, was said to have committed the offence in his 16 Onuato, Ogui, Enugu residence.

    According to police spokesman, Ebere Amaraizu, a superintendent (SP), the incident occurred around 3am on Sunday.

    Amaraizu said: “Ezeugwu had on Saturday night picked up a commercial sex worker at a red light location around Rangers Avenue. Both agreed on N4,000 for a night. On getting home, the deceased insisted on finishing what she was inhaling for her to be in the mood. Ezeugwu, who had already drunk slept off. He woke up around 3am and requested for sex. After several minutes of struggle, she bites him, went to kitchen and returned with a knife. Fight broke out between them and as the deceased tried to stab him, he overpowered her and the knife mistakenly went straight to the deceased stomach. He also stabbed her on the neck.

    “On noticing that the girl had died, the suspect hides her in his room and ran away. His neighbours notified Neighbourhood watch members, who alerted the police. The police came and radioed their colleagues who arrested him on his way to Lagos.

    “His room was later searched and the corpse was recovered and deposited at the Eastern Nigeria Medical Centre mortuary, Enugu.

    “Ezeugwu is blaming drunkenness for his action.”

  • My encounter with a prostitute

    In response to a notice inviting academic papers for publication in a foreign journal with the title “Vice or Virtue: Humanity and professions”, I decided to submit an abstract. I was fascinated by the title of the notice owing to the juxtaposition of the two words vice and virtue and their diametric but complementary alignments.

    I decided to use Barnard Shaw’s play Mrs. Warren’s Profession to interrogate the tensions of vice and virtue as opposites inextricably intertwined with each other. For those who may not know, Mrs. Warren’s Profession is a play that recounts the story of Mrs. Kitty Warren, a onetime prostitute who, through the proceeds of her trade is able to send her daughter Vivie to university. My interrogation of the issues raised in the play heightened my interest in prostitution and posed a number of questions to me. Do the proceeds from prostitution contribute to our economy or aid the enablement of what we see as virtue in the society, can a prostitute ever change seeing that even when Mrs. Warren retired, she established a brothel to provide employment for young girls fanning the embers of sexual immorality, do prostitutes pay tithes and offerings to churches for prosperity in their trade, are there married women who exchange their bodies for money and positions thereby defiling the sanctity of conjugal union and finally what group of people constitute the clientele of prostitutes?

    For answers to these questions, I decided to have an interview with a prostitute, Opebi in Ikeja the venue, time 12 midnight, date 14th October 2017. Entering Opebi, I saw her. Standing on a six inches heels, her clothes clung tightly to her body accentuating the seductive outlines of her provocative endowments, her legs stood out like a well polished piece of furniture, her skin glittered under the semi darkness of the night like the smoothness of the sea and the beauty of her physiognomy could disarm the devil. I pulled over to her and stopped. “Hi”, I blurted. “Good evening sir”, she replied, her sonorous voice making an instant impression on me.

    She:  Where are we going to and what can you offer?

    Me: Well, my mission is different. I just want to have a discussion with you for 30 minutes and I will pay you.

    She: This is new. Are you a secret police agent?

    Me: No I am not. I am doing a research on prostitution and I want to hear from the horse’s mouth, I have a recorder and will ask you some questions.

    She: I hope your recorder does not have a camera.

    Me: No it doesn’t, you can examine it.

    Five minutes later, we found a table and two empty chairs. Instantly, I set out to business.

    Me: What is your name?

    She: My name is Cynthia. (The cynical smile that graced her face betrayed her efforts at honesty. After all did Mrs. Warren not disguise her true identity by adding a Mrs. to her name even though she wasn’t married? Disguise is an indelible mark of treachery)

    Me: So tell me, why and how did you become a prostitute?

    She: (Smiles.)Well, after my NCE, I proceeded to University to study Mass Communication. Then my father died. After my youth service, I got a job as a reporter with a publishing outfit. For seven months, I wasn’t paid any salary and with a widowed mother and three younger ones to take care of, life became very difficult.  One day, I was sent to Abuja to interview a popular politician. He liked me and for the first time, I slept in a five star hotel. He gave me good money and promised me lots of things. Well, he didn’t fulfill any of the promises and never picked my calls again and that taught me a lesson, politicians are established in deceit and failed promises. Then I hit the streets.

    Me: (Nonplussed.) Don’t you think its sheer moral depravity for you to pull your clothes for a stranger just because of money?

    She: (Draws a big breath and sighs.) Well, everyone is guilty of moral depravity in this country. What it takes me to pull my clothes for a stranger is what it takes any government or employer of labor to owe workers for several months without salaries. Moral depravity has no gradation. Moral depravity is overseeing the daily strangulation of your people through economic hardship, watching the economy of your country shrink and making plans for re-election in 2019. Moral depravity is selective fight against corruption, when those who have despoiled this country to stupor walk the streets as free men while petty thieves languish in jail. It is the same moral depravities that will cause the deployment of soldiers to a section of the country to unleash mayhem, terror and death upon citizens. It is the tacit support for Fulani herdsmen who are killing people all over the country without a voice raised by the government. It is when banks input all kinds of secret charges in their daily transactions without anyone asking questions. Moral depravity is when a Senator earns N36 million a month; a House of Representative member earns N25 million a month whereas a police officer earns N18 thousand a month.

    Me: Look…you see…are you sure…

    She: (Cuts in) you think because I stand on the road at night I don’t know what is happening in this country? Don’t forget I was once a journalist and I had a good education. Moral depravity is when some people who call themselves men of God scam people every Sunday in the name of tithe and offering. They task the people to build universities and yet, the people cannot afford the fees of the same universities built with their money; that is moral depravity. Moral depravity is when fake drugs are imported into the country for the gradual annihilation of the populace while the importer smiles to the bank. I am not more morally depraved than the politicians, lawyers, engineers, pastors and business men who troop here every night to patronize me.

    Me: It’s enough please, it’s…

    She: (Cuts in) no, it’s not enough. A third force must emerge in this country to engage the politicians, the elected office holders, public and private service providers, to hold them accountable, to rise against the daily criminality that goes on in government circles, banks, police, military and other public agencies.

    Me: Our time is up; I shall visit you again and we will conclude this interview.

    She: Let me remind you that moral depravity has been taken to a new level with the recent $26 billion USD scandal at NNPC while the country bleeds with infrastructural decay. Earlier on it was PTF, now it is NNPC all operated by the same human machinery within the precinct of the country’s cash cow.  The sophistry and hypocrisy of fight against corruption must stop because nobody has any moral justification to condemn any profession including prostitution.

    Me: (Completely dazed) I must leave now, thanks for your time. (Into what dangers will research lead me?)

     

    • Adiele is of the

    Department of English

    University of Lagos

  • Stigma: Linguists, medical experts adopt new names for HIV/AIDS, prostitutes

    Stigma: Linguists, medical experts adopt new names for HIV/AIDS, prostitutes

    A team of Nigerian linguists and medical experts have adopted new names for HIV, AIDS and prostitutes in Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba in order to reduce the scourge of stigmatisation.

    A statement on Saturday by Prof. Herbert Igboanusi of the University of Ibadan, said the adoption was to eliminate stigmatisation and discrimination of persons living with HIV and AIDS.

    He said that the study adopted the following names as more appropriate for the HIV/AIDS.

    HIV in Igbo is Ori Nchekwa Ahụ meaning something that fights or weakens the body immunity while AIDS is Mmịnwụ, a condition that causes emaciation.

    According to the statement the Yorùbá, appropriate term for HIV is Kòkòrò Apa Sójà Ara (KASA) meaning sickness that which kills the body immunity while AIDS is ààrùn ìsọdọ̀lẹ àjẹsára a sickness that completely weakens body immune system.

    In Hausa, HIV is now Karya garkuwa meaning that which weakens the body immune system while Kanjamau a sickness capable of emaciating one’s body has been chosen for AIDS.

    Igboanusi said that the study was a two-year research titled “A metalanguage for HIV, AIDS and Ebola discourses in Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba” sponsored by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund).

    He called on speakers of the three languages to adhere to the use of these chosen terms in order to avoid confusing HIV with AIDS and consequently reduce their spread through behavioural change.

    “It is the researchers’ belief that behavioural change is only possible when the people are familiar with the appropriate terminology for HIV and AIDS in their own languages.”

    Similarly, the experts also adopted a new name for commercial sex worker in line with international practice.

    “Since it is now more acceptable to refer to certain persons as “commercial sex workers” rather than “prostitutes”, we agreed that Ndị mkwụ̣gharị people who hang around for them in Igbo.

    “Gbélé pawó, women who stay at home making money in Yoruba and Mata masu zaman kansu that is women who are living independently in Hausa.