Women can no longer walk freely at night in Abuja, and the law does not protect their right to do so


AMAKA Enemo retreated when the camera was pointed in her direction. Her bold, bright face was filled with dismay as she requested the device to be put away. Once that was done, she flashed a quick smile and proceeded to narrate the incident that left one of her colleagues, Joy Onyekachi, childless years back.

Onyekachi, a Nigerian sex worker, stepped out one evening to make quick cash while her baby lay on the bed hungry, waiting to be fed. The mother resolved to turn to transactional sex to get money for feeding and to buy items for her child but the night turned bad when she got picked up by policemen who arrested her for constituting ‘public nuisance’.

All her plea to be released in order to go attend to her baby fell on deaf ears and while she was locked up for two days, her baby left unwatched, struggled to survive in the small room in which it had been abandoned. By the time the mother was allowed to return to her life, she had lost her child and was left alone to deal with her loss.

“And you think it will be well for all these policemen and task force agents?” Enemo murmured curses in an almost bone-chilling tone.

Having worked as the national coordinator of the Nigerian Sex Workers Association (NSWA) for many years, Enemo has lived through horror fighting to protect the rights of her members and hers.

Between deep sighs, she painted a disturbing picture of the treatment meted out to sex workers by policemen and task force agents in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT.

Several women in sex trade have suffered varying degrees of inhumane treatments from task force agents. But majority of them are silent because of the stigma attached to sex work in the Nigerian society. ‘Ashawo’, a derogatory name for sex workers, is often hurled at these women in order to shame them into silence.

Someone like Vivian, a member of NSWA, swears that the insulting label hurts more than anything else.

Vivian’s experience with the FCT task force led her into the open arms of Enemo. She recounted how she struggled through school on a shoestring budget and later started sex work to eke out a living. It wasn’t long before she was arrested by Abuja task force and was detained for several hours until she begged a friend to bring money to bail herself.

“I prefer to be beaten up than to hear the derogatory comments and receive treatment passed by the task force agents after I was arrested. They made me question the worth of my life,” Vivian said, with her head bent down as she recalled the painful experience.

War against women

In April 2019, the Nigerian police in Abuja arrested over 100 women on the streets and paraded them as prostitutes. While in custody in Utako police station, most of the women claimed they were assaulted. They were also denied their fundamental human rights of getting legal representation, according to those who spoke to Legit.ng. None of them were released until after paying for bail.

One of the victims whose court affidavit was sighted by this reporter said she and her friend were picked up at a club in Gwarimpa on April 26. The victim, who cannot be named, said she was asked by men dressed in blue polo shirts and reflective jackets to follow them. She complied because she was scared of getting hurt.

Later, she and other ladies present at the club were taken outside and had their photos taken by the men. Later, they were pushed into a bus and taken to several other joints in Abuja, where other women were arrested without explanation as to why they were being arrested.

She said they were all taken to Wuse Zone 6, and witnessed police officers pay money to the men who earlier had picked them up before they were all transferred to Utako police station. At the station, about sixty (60) ladies were granted bail and released after paying some money. The victim stated that she and 10 others were left in the cell for days as they did not have money to pay the police officers.

While in the cell, the lady said in her affidavit: “a Criminal Records Officer (CRO) sprayed us with tear gas and left us coughing and struggling to breathe. I was physically assaulted by one of the officers who accused me of fighting with him the previous day.”

She also said that an NYSC corps member who had been picked up alongside with them was beaten with wire and baton and left injured.

READ MORE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/women-can-no-longer-walk-freely-at-night-in-abuja/

Haaa they even get organization

Let their Union lobby the National Assembly to enact a law which will legalize the oldest profession. After all we not holier than those western countries that have done that