The ban on prostitution in the FCT has begun
to yield some good results since the marching orders given by the FCT Minister,
Sen. Bala Mohammed to the social development secretariat to arrest and
prosecute offenders. SOLOMON NDA-ISAIAH and ANTHONY ADA ABRAHAM report
Following the investigation by LEADERSHIP Sunday recently into the
increase of cases of prostitution in the FCT and the lackluster attitude of the
authorities vested with the responsibility to enforce the ban on commercial sex
workers in the capital city, it seems that the organisation has heeded to the
call and have used the report as guide to raid some of the locations patronised
by them. A joint task force of departments under the FCT recently swung
into action and arrested over 40 commercial sex workers.
It could be Recall that the minister gave an ultimatum to see drastic changes in the areas of environmental cleanliness particularly garbage collection, social menace like street hawking, begging and commercial sex workers as well as enforcement of total ban on commercial motorcycles (Okada) in designated areas.
The joint task force operation which visibly featured the Abuja Metropolitan Management Council (AMMC), the Social Development Secretariat, the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB) and other mandate secretariats, raided various districts of the metropolis and removed commercial sex workers from the street.
Speaking to journalists, the co-ordinator, Society Against Prostitution, Child Labour in Nigeria, Mrs Grace Adogo, said the message of the administration to commercial sex workers is to stay away from the streets.
Adogo said, “don’t be on the streets, don’t constitute yourself as a nuisance in the FCT, however where you want to carry out your business is your business but once you are out on the street, it’s already an offence because the FCTA has zero tolerance for street hawking of whatever form, whether with your body or putting tray on your head, they are all termed as hawking.
“Our message is don’t be on the street but for those who want to turn over a new leaf we have a rehabilitation programme for them,”she said.
In an interview with the secretary of SDS, Mrs Blessing Onu, the raid was not a child’s play, saying the administration will not condone any form of environmental nuisance.
Onu said, “This is not a child’s play, it has come to stay. We will not relent until we achieve our aim. We have just one rehabilitation centre currently in the FCT for these girls but the FCT is doing something in the area of creating more homes for these girls and for children, we want to partner with more orphanage homes to ensure we achieve results. The city is growing it’s not like five years back, so we equally need to move at the speed at which the city is growing.”
Also reacting to the development, the co-ordinator of the AMMC, Arch. Reuben Okoya, said they will take drastic actions against hotel owners that condone and harbour prostitutes.
He also said they will take action against residents that convert their houses to havens of commercial sex workers, saying such illegal convention points will be sealed, and the owners fined or both.
Though the organisations must be applauded for their swift response for taking a positive step in making sure that hawking [prostitution] in any guise is reduced, there are also recent reports about some prostitutes paying some security operatives monthly to protect them against any arrest.
According to Federalist Weekly, some prostitutes in the FCT pay between N5,000 – N10,000 monthly to the ‘oga’ in-charge of this police post, so that he doesn’t send his boys to disturb their business.
This statement was made by prostitutes living in one of the suburbs of Abuja when quizzed.
This is one of the“behind the door” activities of some police officers saddled with the responsibility of curbing prostitution in the capital city.
Though, prostitution has been described as the world’s oldest profession, African culture, traditions and religions frown at it. The recent happening around Abuja, the nation’s capital, suggest that despite the outlawing of prostitution on the streets of Abuja, activities of the prostitutes are on the increase.
It could be Recall that the minister gave an ultimatum to see drastic changes in the areas of environmental cleanliness particularly garbage collection, social menace like street hawking, begging and commercial sex workers as well as enforcement of total ban on commercial motorcycles (Okada) in designated areas.
The joint task force operation which visibly featured the Abuja Metropolitan Management Council (AMMC), the Social Development Secretariat, the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB) and other mandate secretariats, raided various districts of the metropolis and removed commercial sex workers from the street.
Speaking to journalists, the co-ordinator, Society Against Prostitution, Child Labour in Nigeria, Mrs Grace Adogo, said the message of the administration to commercial sex workers is to stay away from the streets.
Adogo said, “don’t be on the streets, don’t constitute yourself as a nuisance in the FCT, however where you want to carry out your business is your business but once you are out on the street, it’s already an offence because the FCTA has zero tolerance for street hawking of whatever form, whether with your body or putting tray on your head, they are all termed as hawking.
“Our message is don’t be on the street but for those who want to turn over a new leaf we have a rehabilitation programme for them,”she said.
In an interview with the secretary of SDS, Mrs Blessing Onu, the raid was not a child’s play, saying the administration will not condone any form of environmental nuisance.
Onu said, “This is not a child’s play, it has come to stay. We will not relent until we achieve our aim. We have just one rehabilitation centre currently in the FCT for these girls but the FCT is doing something in the area of creating more homes for these girls and for children, we want to partner with more orphanage homes to ensure we achieve results. The city is growing it’s not like five years back, so we equally need to move at the speed at which the city is growing.”
Also reacting to the development, the co-ordinator of the AMMC, Arch. Reuben Okoya, said they will take drastic actions against hotel owners that condone and harbour prostitutes.
He also said they will take action against residents that convert their houses to havens of commercial sex workers, saying such illegal convention points will be sealed, and the owners fined or both.
Though the organisations must be applauded for their swift response for taking a positive step in making sure that hawking [prostitution] in any guise is reduced, there are also recent reports about some prostitutes paying some security operatives monthly to protect them against any arrest.
According to Federalist Weekly, some prostitutes in the FCT pay between N5,000 – N10,000 monthly to the ‘oga’ in-charge of this police post, so that he doesn’t send his boys to disturb their business.
This statement was made by prostitutes living in one of the suburbs of Abuja when quizzed.
This is one of the“behind the door” activities of some police officers saddled with the responsibility of curbing prostitution in the capital city.
Though, prostitution has been described as the world’s oldest profession, African culture, traditions and religions frown at it. The recent happening around Abuja, the nation’s capital, suggest that despite the outlawing of prostitution on the streets of Abuja, activities of the prostitutes are on the increase.
The Streets
When taking a stroll around the streets of Abuja at night, one would notice that the so called ‘ashawos’ are being deliberately conscious of random raids carried out by the authorities as they try to avoid arrest.
LEADERSHIP Sunday investigation shows that thougwh the prostitutes are under watch, some of them still indulge in the sex trade, plying it in a ‘hide and seek’ manner.
Over 40 commercial sex workers were however, arrested in raids around the known hot spots of prostitution in the FCT.
At the Jabi Masalaci, Eden Garden, Lagos Street, Zone 4, Wuse 2 and other areas covered during the raids, handful of prostitutes are found to have ‘returned to work’ and roaming the streets as usual.
However, authorities responsible have vowed to continue with the raid through the nooks and crannies of the territory to fish out those infringing the law banning prostitution in the FCT.
Speaking on the development, the founder/president of Dorothy Njemanze Foundation, Miss Dorothy Njemanze, said the authority have refused to address proven violations and the resultant traumas of victims.
She lamented that some of the victims who are infected with HIV/AIDS, are married women who were abducted under the guise of prostitution elimination in Abuja and raped alongside many other victims by staff of the enforcing organisations and security operatives.
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Society