•Arrested suspects featured in viral video allege extortion by agency, rejection by families
•Govt agency: We made arrests, but exploitation allegations unfounded
In Benin, Edo State capital, young ladies found roaming after 8pm are now at the risk of being labelled prostitutes following the decision of the state government to declare war against prostitution. Many unsuspecting ladies have been so tagged, arrested and detained by the Edo State Migration Agency (EDMA), the body saddled with the responsibility of ridding the state of the menace posed by women of easy virtue. But some ladies arrested in the clampdown alleged being extorted by EDMA officials before regaining their freedom and shocked. They also said they were shocked to see video recordings of their arrest going viral on social media and causing families and friends to disown them. INNOCENT DURU reports that many of the ladies affected are traumatised or even depressed.
Esther, a 22-year-old ulcer patient, was pounced on and whisked away by officials of the Edo State Migration Agency (EDMA) from where she stood with her friend penultimate Thursday. They were arrested at about 8:30 pm for roaming at an “ungodly hour”.
Prior to her arrest, she had stayed for long hours without food. The hunger triggered her ulcer, fired up the stomach walls and provoked serious discomfort in her gut.
She said amid sobs: “I was picked up opposite Victorious Kitchen and taken to their office.
“I had not eaten by the time they picked me up and kept us in their custody till the next day.
“They did not buy anything for us to eat.
“I was even begging them to give us water, but they did not buy anything for us.
“Incidentally, I have an ulcer.”
Following the distressing experience they had, Esther said, “One of us even fainted in their custody. When they saw that her condition was serious, they took her to one clinic around the area.”
Highlighting how endangered young ladies have become in the city, she said: “They even arrested one girl that was deaf and dumb. We begged them to allow the girl to go but they did not agree.”
After clamping them in ‘cells’ within the office, the state officials subsequently brought them out and “collected our statement and did a video recording of all of us that were arrested.
“When they did the video recording, we begged them not to post it online because we have friends and families online.
“We even told them that if they would post the video for any reasons, they should cover our faces.
“But they told us to shut up, saying ‘wetin we wan take your face do?’
“There was one dark, short guy among the agency officials, who kept threatening us.
“We begged them to allow us to call our relations to intimate them about our whereabouts because we were scared as we did not know where they were taking us to.
“But the dark guy told us to shut up adding that they could carry us like that and ‘kill you troway’.
“We all shouted when he said that, wondering why he would make such a heartless statement.
“He also told one of us that he could hit her and make her to disappear.
“He boasted that we should go and ask about him around Iyama, threatening that he could do this and that to us.
“I really feared the guy because he could do anything to anybody.”
Esther added: “Thereafter, they asked us to write statements.
“The woman that was instructing us said we should write that we were caught engaging in prostitution.
“I told her I could not write anything like that and asked why she would force me to write such.
“But she said if you refuse to write that you were caught prostituting, you will have to tear the paper and write another one stating that you were caught prostituting.
“I ended up writing that I was arrested for prostitution.
“If you didn’t write so, they would say what were you doing outside by that time of the night?
“The time in question was between 8pm and 8:30pm.
“When we were writing our statements, they told the people from Benin not to write that they are from there but from other states.
“That is why there was no mention of Benin girl in that video.
“But the truth is that the bulk of the people they arrested were from Benin.”
She said after writing the statements, she thought they would allow them to go. “But I didn’t know that they wanted to collect money from us.
“They collected N50,000 from each of us, and we were 32 altogether.
“I didn’t have money to pay; it was my friend that transferred N40,000 to me while I added the balance.
“I was released between 5pm and 6pm the following day.
“They are on the trail of one of the girls who did a voice note revealing how they extorted money from us.
“The lady has left Benin out of fear, because they are seriously looking for her.”
Esther said contrary to the agreement reached on the recorded video, “they eventually posted the video on the social media without covering our faces.
“I also appeared in the video and people who know me have been calling, wanting to know if I was the person they saw in the viral video.
“Many of us are now having issues with our families because of the video.
“I have been traumatised and scared by the development.
“I can’t walk freely on the street anymore.
“I no longer go out at night. If I must buy something, I do so before 5pm.
“If I am thirsty and it is already night, I will never go out to buy water because of this horrible experience.
“Many other ladies have run away from Benin because of the trauma.
“Anytime I go out now, I have to come back very early.
“If I am anywhere by 8pm, I will have to sleep there.
“I can’t afford to go about once it is night.”
Also reliving her ordeal, a victim who gave her name simply as Vanessa said: “We were in front of Exquisite Club at Iyama Road when they swooped on us.
“We had gone there to see someone around 8.30 pm and they beckoned on other guys to come with a bus.
“They took us away and picked some girls on the road as we were going.
“As they were going, they were picking people on the road. They picked people from Benoni Junction and Okpor Road too.”
Confirming Esther’s claims, Vanessa said: “They picked one girl that is deaf and dumb without giving her any opportunity to express herself.
“As we moved on, they saw two ladies walking on the road, they parked and picked them.
“They took us to their office and put us in two rooms. We were not given food in the morning as well all through afternoon till we left there.”
Continuing, she said: “They told me to write a statement. The woman said I should write that I was doing hook-up.
“I was like, I am not a kid. I went to the club to see somebody. So, you can’t force me to write what I don’t know.
“She insisted that I must write that I was doing hook-up, but I didn’t write such in my statement.
“She said I should go back because I didn’t want to write that I was doing hook-up.
“After video-recording everything, the woman that had said I should write a statement that I was doing hook-up asked if we had somebody that could stand surety for us or we were willing to do surety by ourselves.
“I was like, what is surety? She said we were going to bail ourselves.
“Just then, another person came in and said we should pay N50,000 each.
“One girl among us said she had N10,000, but they said no. The other girl said she had N20,000 but they also said no, that it was N50,000 or they would take us to prison.
“I wanted to send the money to the woman directly, but there was this tall man that came in and she said I should make the transfer him.
“They called him Honorable. So, I transferred 50K (N50,000) to the Honorable.
“Some other people also paid to him while others paid to some other people.
“That night, they did a video recording of us about two times. Then in the morning, they video-recorded us about two times too.
“We were curious and asked them if they were going to post the video but they said no.”
She added: “But seeing the video online, I saw my face. I saw everything.
“Everything showed in the video. They didn’t cover our faces after they collected the money.
“My family members have not seen the video yet, and I pray they don’t see it. It is my friends from other states that called me.
“They saw my video on TikTok, saying it was Edo Migration Agency that posted my video on their page.
“Before they posted the video, a short man among the officials was narrating while recoding that there are too many hook-ups in Benin and that most of them are from other states.
“Meanwhile, the same person told all those people that are from Benin that they should deny they are from Edo State.
“He instructed them to say they were from other states and should not be spoiling Benin’s image.”
She said she had been in shock since the incident. “I am feeling very shocked. I couldn’t even go outside,” she said.
“The few times I went out, people said is that not the girl I saw online?
“I had to go and change my hair and burn those clothes. It is that bad.
“I can’t go out at night again. It wasn’t even late at night that they picked us. It was 8.30pm.
“Immediately they came, they collected our phones.
“They didn’t even give us a chance to call or let someone know that this is where we are.
“About three people in our room had ulcer and were begging for food.
“They could not eat that night. They were crying and feeling pain throughout the night.
“The girl that is deaf and dumb was not allowed to go that night. It was in the evening of the following day they allowed her to go.”
The efforts made by the reporter to reach some other victims were unsuccessful as their mobile phones were not reachable. Our correspondent, however, obtained voice notes of some of the victims shared via WhatsApp.
A victim who spoke in one of the audio messages said she was arrested when she and her friends went to a club called Club Q at Iyama.
She said: “We went out to get ‘suya’ (a meat delicacy) opposite Victoria’s Kitchen, then still eat at Victoria’s Kitchen, because we were hungry.
“On our way out, officials of EDMA picked us up.
“We tried to explain to them that we were not prostitutes; that we came to get suya and food.
“But they did not even want to hear our explanation. They even arrested a girl that was waiting for her boyfriend.
“They took us to their office and made videos of us.
“As they were making the videos, they were asking us questions.
“We begged that they should not post the video because we have family members who are on social media, but they said they were going to cover our faces.
“When they wanted to post the video, I thought that having made the videos, they would just leave us to go. But they kept us there till about 6pm the next day.
“We were more than 30 girls that they arrested, and they collected N50,000 from each of us.
“They started with N100,000 but we said we didn’t have that much.
“We begged them that we didn’t have money and should please let us go because we had not done anything wrong. But they said they were going to take us to prison. So we were scared.
“We now begged to pay N20,000 but they said no, that it is N50,000 last.
“My sister saw the video and she saw me very well. They are calling me now. My father is also angry with me, and I don’t even know how to explain to them, because I’ve told them my own side of the story but they don’t want to believe me.
“Even when they took our statement, we were trying to tell them what happened, that we just went out from the club.
“They said no, that was not what we were going to say. We must say that they caught us in the streets. We must say that we were standing in the streets doing prostitution.
“We told them no, that was not what happened.”
Other victims: We’ve been disowned by relations
Another victim whose ordeal was obtained online said: “I was shocked to see my face on the internet. They didn’t even cover it.
“Now my family members have seen me in the video and have been calling me since morning. They have been abusing and cursing me.
“They said I am a shame and a disgrace to the family.
“I am an orphan. My uncles and aunts who saw the video said I am a disgrace to the family. Now my family said they don’t want me again.”
Reliving her ordeal, a broken victim said: “My problem is not that they arrested us. My concern is that they videoed us and after agreeing that they would cover our faces, they went and posted it on social media.
“Many people including my family members and friends saw it (sobs). Now I am in trouble.
“What they did is not good. They collected N50,000 from each of us but that was not enough for them.”
We made arrests but I’m unaware of exploitation allegations – EDMA DG
The Director General of EDMA, Lucky Agazuma, in a telephone chat with our correspondent, admitted that the agency arrested ladies in various parts of Benin City on that Thursday. He, however, dismissed the allegations of exploitation.
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“That cannot be true. It can’t be possibly true,” he said.
“Oga, nothing of such. I am a Nigerian in Diaspora. I know myself and I believe in my officers.
“We have police there, we have immigration, we have the DSS working with us. They brought people to my office last Thursday, of course.”
Informed that the victims shared evidence of payment, he said: “Really? None that I am aware of. To who? My people? Can I have the names? I am surprised to hear this. Let me call my team and call you back.”
He declined response to further questions.
Civil society coalition decries development
Meanwhile, Edo Civil Society Coalition for Human Rights (EDOCSCHUR) has condemned the action, describing it as unlawful extortion and public shaming of young women by EDMA.
The coalition in a statement signed by the Coordinator Marxist Kola Edokpayi and the Secretary General Comrade Hon. Aghatise Raphael, said: “EDOCSCHUR condemns, in the strongest terms, the manner and method in which the Edo State Migration Agency, under the leadership of its Director General, Mr. Lucky Agazuma, is reportedly conducting its operations in the name of sanitising the state of street prostitution.
“While we support genuine and lawful efforts to restore social order, reduce trafficking and curb street-level crimes, we must also state categorically that any approach rooted in illegality, extortion, abuse of power, and violation of human dignity is unacceptable, unlawful and condemnable.”
The statement added that reports reaching EDOCSCHUR indicate that young women arrested on allegations of street prostitution are being compelled to pay huge sums of money—in some cases tens or hundreds of thousands of naira—in exchange for non-prosecution or the suppression of public disgrace, noting that these practices amount to state-enabled extortion and undermine the very laws the agency claims to enforce.
“After receiving these huge sums, officials of the agency allegedly proceed to record and publish videos of the young women online, portraying them as criminals and objects of ridicule.
“This violates their rights to dignity, privacy, and fair treatment, regardless of any alleged offence.
“If truly reform is the goal, then shaming, blackmailing and extorting vulnerable persons are not the tools of progress—they are tools of oppression, exploitation, and corruption.
Constitutional and legal violations
These actions directly contravene the provisions of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended):
* Section 34(1)(a) – Right to Dignity of the Human Person says: “No person shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment.”
The public shaming and extortion of arrested individuals violate this fundamental right.
* Section 36(5) – Presumption of Innocence: “Every person who is charged with a criminal offence shall be presumed to be innocent until proven guilty. “Filming and posting suspects on social media before trial is a violation of due process.
* Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act 2015 says Unlawful publication of personal data, images, or videos without consent is punishable under Nigerian law.
EDOCSCHUR went on to demand immediate cessation of public shaming videos
“The Edo State Migration Agency must immediately cease the act of publishing videos or images of arrested individuals on any platform, including social media.
“We call on the Edo State Government, the Ministry of Justice, and the Edo State House of Assembly to investigate allegations of extortion, bribery and abuse of office by officials of the agency.
“The leadership of the agency must be held accountable for any proven misconduct, and agency officers must undergo mandatory human rights training to understand the boundaries of lawful enforcement.”
EDOCSCHUR said it would provide legal assistance and human rights support to any victim of extortion, blackmail, or public humiliation arising from this abuse of office.
“We support all sincere efforts to reform society, but not through criminal abuse of vulnerable people.
“A reformed state is not built on bribes, blackmail and disgraceful displays, but on justice, equity, dignity and lawful governance.
“We will not keep silent. We will continue to expose and challenge every abuse of power in Edo State.
“We stand with the oppressed.”
