- Say ‘we were raped repeatedly by male adults’
TAIWO ALIMI explores the world of baby workers who have taken up the manly duty of providing for their families.
Taju Ayinde left Ikire, a farming community in Osun State, six years ago to work in Lagos. He was just a boy approaching his twelfth birthday when his parents contrived with an outsider to push him out. They brainwashed him to believe that Lagos is a land of opportunities where he would make money like it is picked off the streets.
Through his father who had inherited three farms, two remote and one handy, Ayinde has understood the true meaning of a hard worker.
“I started following my parents to farm at four and had become a good tiller of the land by the time I was 10,” he said.
His illiterate parents were barely making enough to fend for the family of seven when Ayinde, the first born and first son, was approached to leave elementary school at Primary Three to become a mechanic apprentice. He reluctantly agreed.
Three years into his apprenticeship, his journey was permanently disrupted. He was lured to Lagos by a ‘village brother’ who promised him a lucrative job in the city.
His father further encouraged him to move to the city in order to boost his fortune and help his siblings.
“They told me I’m a man now and must assume manly responsibilities,” he said.
Ayide would later find that the ‘lucrative job’ awaiting him was nothing more than a glorified gateman in one of the many estates in the cities. And the place he ended up in was not even Lagos but one of the small border towns between Lagos and Ogun states.
That was six years ago. Fast track to the present, Ayinde has experienced much of the downs of urban towns. The lines on his face place his age at well over 20 while his manner and mannerisms betrayed a boy much younger.
Turning 19 recently, Ayinde, who left home when he was barely 13 years old, has been introduced to hard drug and prostitution. He lives in a small security house with a small bathroom. It barely takes a tiny bed with a rough mattress on an old creaking bed he shares with one other. These were thrown-out properties he picked from residences in the Estate that hired him on getting to the town.
He does two jobs as a gateman/security guard, and works 24 hours a day, including Sunday, only managing to catch some sleep while on morning duties.
Ayinde’s initial monthly salary at his current duty post was a paltry N25,000, but has now risen to N35,000.
He goes back to Ikire at least twice in a year to see his parents and siblings, and has to go with some money.
“I have to go home with money because my parents believe that I am working and should be able to take care of my siblings,” said, adding that he dared not complain that his salary is barely enough to feed him.
To supplement his take-home, he engages in other menial works around the estate where he works as a day guard. “I do whatever work is available. If a house needs weeding I do it. if there are sands and gravels to be offloaded, I do it and also offer my services to bricklayers looking for labourers.
Ayinde also runs errands for people who give him money, used clothes or food in return.
However, his convivial and friendly nature has made him a popular item in the community. He had to take on that deportment to gain favour from residents.
Sadly, his lifestyle of endless work has left him hooked on hard drugs, which he boasts gives him strength and dexterity.
To worsen his case, Ayinde cannot speak a word of English. Neither can he read or write.
Asked when he planned to return home to complete his mechanic apprenticeship, he simply looked on into an empty future. He had no clue or plan as to what to do next. He is a teenager suffering in silence.
Usman Kamaru hails from a remote village in Nasarawa State. Although he was born into a peasant family, he was sent to the local primary school where he learnt to read and write.
He said he would have loved to further his education, but by the time he was to move to secondary school, his father advised him as a 12-year-old to help him in the task of catering for the family of six children, effectively bringing an end to his educational career.
Usman is the only male child among his parents’ six children.
“At first, I wanted to work with my father on the farm. But after a farming season, I decided to follow my friends to Lagos,” he said.
Unknown to him, his friend, who was the focus of his envy, was working as a gateman in Arepo, a border town between Ogun and Lagos states.
Recalling how he became a Lagos resident, Usman said: “I rode on an articulated truck from Nasarawa to Lagos, sitting on top of cartons with about a dozen other boys.
“The driver collected N5,000 from each us and dropped us at our destinations.”
Usman had N7,000 on him at the time he left home, and in no time, the money was spent. He has done all manner of jobs from gateman to okada (commercial motorcycle) operator before he became a local scavenger.
“I was introduced to scavenging about a year ago, and that is what I am still doing,” he said, adding that he makes about N2000 daily from the venture.
Jonathan (13) came to Lagos from Jelu village in Warri, Delta State with his uncle (mother’s younger brother) in the hope of continuing his education upon the demise of his father and family breadwinner.
He has been in Ibadan, Oyo State capital for five years and not once has he attended school. His uncle migrated abroad with his wife and children last year, leaving Jonathan with a friend.
“I was given a room in my uncle’s mansion where I lay my head every night. I don’t have any skill so I do whatever I can lay my hands on,” Jonathan said.
Asked why he had not considered returning to Warri, he said: “My mother said I should be strong and hustle in Lagos. She depends on me to take care of my siblings since my father is late. I can’t return home until I make something of my life here.”
Jonathan lives alone. To make ends meet, he works at a Chinese factory near an interchange on the Lagos/Ibadan Expressway.
At 18, he acts like a grown up, coming home late with girls of different shapes and sizes, who stay with him for many days in his uncle’s apartment. He also moves around with other boys of questionable character.
Jonathan has learnt to become an internet fraudster popularly called Yahoo Yahoo from his friends, and his income comes mostly from this.
Osmond, on his part, had followed his older cousin, Desmond, a barber in Magboro, Ogun State to Lagos. Any plan of him returning to school is over.
He had been working in Desmond’s barbing salon since arriving the Southwest from Gboko, Benue State, three years ago. But when a job opportunity landed on the lap of his cousin, he left the 14-year-old alone in Magboro to fend for himself.
Now, Osmond operates the barbing salon all alone.
“I make enough to feed myself and deliver money to my brother,” he said.
“That is when I have paid for the rent. I sleep inside the salon. I know that one day, I will have my own salon.”
The family in Gboko is expecting a lot from the teenager.
“I have been sending money home to my parents. My father always calls that I should send money home for the upkeep of my brothers and sisters who are in primary school,” he said.
It suffices to say that the teenager is the bread winner of a family of seven.
Audu was born in Buda, a village in Kano State predominated by peasant farmers with abundant lands. He works on these farms all year round with the only respite being in the dry season. When the farming season is over, he picks up odd jobs wherever he can find them.
Audu moved to Kaduna a few months after he turned 10, with the help of a family friend who came from the city. Unknown to his aged father, the man was an agent recruiting young boys and girls as maids for homes in cities. He has no regards whatsoever for the laws prohibiting minors from serving as labourers.
He lies to guardians and parents to lure their wards to the urban centres. Hence Audu’s unsuspecting father quickly packed his few belongings in a polythene bag and instructed him to follow the man.
Upon resuming duties as a ‘house boy’, he was told that if he did well, he would be enrolled in school after a while; an opportunity he had never had before.
Two years after, he is yet to enter the four walls of a classroom. From house boy, he may graduate to a gateman if he stays with the household long enough. He may never realise his dream of becoming a big farmer and businessman.
Parents violating Child Rights Act without consequences
The 2003 Child Rights Act (CRA), which defines a child as “anyone below the age of 18” is not deterring parents from releasing their fragile boys to the unknown world.
The law states: “In every action concerning a child, whether undertaken by an individual, public or private body, the best interest of the child shall be the primary consideration.”
Section 11 highlights: “A child is entitled to respect for the dignity of his person, and accordingly, no child shall be subjected to physical, mental or emotional injury, abuse, neglect or maltreatment, including sexual abuse; no child shall be held in slavery or servitude, while in the care of a parent, legal guardian or school authority or any other person or authority having the care of the child.”
The CRA has been adopted by most states in Nigeria, including Lagos, Ogun, and Kaduna, where Ayinde, Audu and others have been perpetually manipulated and abused by the people they love.
Rural-urban migration fuels malady
Until recently, internal migration is largely fueled by economic factors; the natural tendency to seek for greener pasture, which led to the rush from rural villages to urban towns and cities, for work.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said in 2023, Nigeria recorded 1,134,828 Internally Displaced Persons (IDP). NBS said this kind of internal migration was escalated by conflict, violence, natural disasters, or other crisis, which forcibly removed Nigerians from their homes to other parts of the country.
The young people in the IDPs, mostly boys, due to their restless nature usually move away to the towns and cities to look for work to fend for their families left in the IDP camps.
It is said that this kind of internal migration constitutes one of the biggest humanitarian crises in Nigeria.
The displacement, said the report titled ‘Report of Internally Displaced Persons in Nigeria 2023,’ is induced by a combination of factors such as Boko Haram insurgency in the Northeast region, banditry/kidnapping in the Northwest region, armed conflicts, and communal clashes in other parts of the country.
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The survey further found that 40.6 per cent of the rural IDP households reportedly experienced discrimination from host communities or camp workers, compared to 28.8 per cent in urban camps.
The survey was conducted across seven states, namely Adamawa, Yobe, Borno, Sokoto, Katsina, Benue and Nasarawa.
The 2021 United Nations Nigeria’s report on internal migration trends in Nigeria recorded that “Most of the migration appears to occur in waves, with people moving from rural areas to towns within the same state, and then to larger cities.
It also shows that states associated with larger internal migration are also associated with international migration, which suggests common drivers for both types of migration. And it is a fact Lagos and the FCT are the major destinations for inter-state migration. Finally, the report notes that economic indices indicate that incentives are likely to influence people’s decision to migrate, alongside marriage and conflict.”
Another report put together by Researcher, Yohanna Danladi Pam in 2024 established that “the rate of migration from rural to urban centres is common among people of age 11-20 and 21-30. Therefore about 60 per cent of the productive youths in the rural area migrate to urban centres.
Thus, the youths who are the most productive group of people in the rural areas migrate to the urban centres, leaving behind the aged and the children who are about 40 per cent of the total population in the rural areas.
“This usually hinders development of agriculture and rural areas.”
Of course, boys constitute a larger number of the migrants.
BWB: How adult men manipulate ignorant teenagers
Boys Without Borders (BWB), a Nigerian based NGO vigorously advocating for the boy child by re-moulding abused boys into functional men through education, orientation, and positive community influence for a stronger and more united society, noted that a boy child can easily be manipulated by the common brainwash: ‘you are a man.’
According to Theophilus Femi Alawonde, Director of Media and Communication BWB, “Over the years, issues surrounding the boy-child and his development have not been given enough attention as required, thereby causing the areas essential for his growth to be treated with levity.
“For too long, the boy-child has been seen as a potential threat, and as a result, the female gender has been shielded from them.
“However, this perspective is flawed, and it ignores the fact that boys are also vulnerable and need support to grow into well-rounded adults.
“We recognise that a balanced and functional society requires both men and women to thrive, and we are committed to ensuring that the boy-child is not left behind.
“We recognise that the issues facing boys in our society are complex and multifaceted, ranging from sexual abuse to lack of proper orientation.
“We are dedicated to tackling these issues head-on by providing boys with the necessary education, orientation, support and resources to overcome them and reach their full potential.”
Since BWB began operation in 2020, it has impacted 6,000 boys through outreaches and activations in 15 community engagements and more than 10,000 reached online.
BWB reckoned that about 450,000 Nigerian boys have experienced neglect and abuse and run the risk of becoming dysfunctional men in adulthood.
‘How I became teenage drug addict’
In the little security room, which Ayinde claimed was his palace; where he sleeps, baths, cooks and eats, the now teenager also smokes all kind of substances.
When this reporter accosted him, he initially denied but later confessed to the addiction.
He said: “I was introduced to drug by the same man that brought me to this place.
“He was also a security man here and I was working under him.
“He was always smoking and told me to try it one night in the freezing cold. He said it would make me warm and strong.”
By the time Ayinde’s friend was leaving, he was head deep in the daily ritual.
“Since I’ve been taking it, it has been helping me to stay awake and work very hard.”
Ayinde no longer needs to hit the streets. He locks himself in his den, puffing away his already worn life.
Like a cub snatched at infancy, Ayinde sees himself as a man who should be doing carrying responsibilities. Yet, in his reddish eyes lurks a desperate plea to be saved from an addiction that was wasting him. Once in a while, he would steal into the streets, especially at night, to mate with women of easy virtue, thinking his life is made.
“I like to go back home, but my parents said I should keep working and sending money to them. The money I send home is all that is helping them,” he said.
Meanwhile, he has gone far. Home cannot quench the fire burning inside Ayinde. He no longer thinks about the mechanic apprenticeship he left behind.
“I don’t know if I want to that again. Even, if I want to where do I begin after six years?” he wondered.
Ayinde has a new life now, a life of addiction to drug and prostitution.
‘I was frequently subjected to rape as street dweller’
Dauda (19), a BWB volunteer, who got nicked from the killing field of cultism, drug addiction and whoring in the Mushin-Lagos ghetto, said while leaving on the streets, he was perpetually subjected to rape.
“Growing up on the streets of Mushin, many things that society has normalised as being part of the process of simply being boys are things that harm the boy-child.
“These are things that BWB has made me see. A few months ago, when I got home, a brother told me he saw my status and my posts on BWB and quizzed me if indeed boys can be raped. I said yes.
“It was one of the things I experience as a street boy. I was serially molested and abused. Many street boys you see out there are being raped by adult males, sometimes their benefactors, and they cannot speak out.
“You can imagine the kind of adults they will become. That is if they survive the onslaught?”
Usman is smallish in stature, but he has experienced the bad and the ugly sides of urban life.
He has no permanent abode as a scavenger. “Sometimes I sleep at refuse dumps, where my friends and I spend most of our time. It is where we make our living and I am comfortable there,” he said.
Once, he stayed in an uncompleted building, when he newly came to the Southwest.
“I was there for a few weeks until the landlord asked us to leave. He was not happy that we were many sleeping there,” he said.
Asked about the substances that helped him to stay strong and active, Usman said he did not do hard drugs. “I only take normal drugs like Tramadol,” he said.
Told that Tramadol is among the prohibited drugs in Nigeria, he merely stared at the reporter, his eyes rolling in confusion and disbelief.
Asked what he would like to become when he grows up? He chuckled before replying in broken English, “Oga, I no know about that one (boss, I don’t know what you are talking about).
For boys like Usman and Ayinde, the most they can think of is getting through the day. They think little of their future, only living through each day in flitting shadows of making ends meet and family happy.
They are resigned to whatever the day has in stock for them and to make the most of it.
