The Punch

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Panic as clients clash with sex workers

Terver Bendega

Residents of Ilogbo Road, Oju-Ore, Ota, Ogun State are not strangers to loud arguments and fights that often break out in the area. This is because there is a brothel located at Plot 5 along the road, which houses sex workers.


The brothel, Inset: Banner of the church

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The brothel, AJIP Hotel, which shares boundary with a mosque and is located in the same compound with a church, accommodates deportees from Italy and the UK and therefore plays host to fun seekers from surrounding communities and sometimes students.

As a result of people from different backgrounds that come to the hotel, there are often fights and arguments that have become second nature of the residents of the area.

However, the clash that broke out between the sex workers and some of their clients in the brothel penultimate week is still reverberating in the community.

Presently, the residents lock the door of their houses early in the evening for fear of reprisal from the customers. They also fear policemen that often come to ensure peace.

PUNCH METRO gathered that the latest fight was between the sex workers and some hoodlums, who also patronise them.

A resident of the community, identified simply as Bisi said the hoodlums had been having some quarrels with the sex workers before the attack.

According to her, the boys usually come for sex and after having their way with the girls, they would disagree on the charges and leave the girls without paying them.

She said, "They (hoodlums) constantly harass the girls. The area boys fight regularly with these girls. But that day, after drinking and having sex with the girls, they were asked to pay. Instead of paying, they started negotiating prices with them; some of them refused to pay. When the girls insisted on being paid, they flared up and started beating them up."

She said some people did not like what happened and came to the girls' rescue. It got to a point that bullets were fired and broken bottles were freely used. The brothel manager had no choice but to call Mobile policemen to ensure peace in the place.

"I think the MOPOL arrested them because they beat the girls up and even destroyed property in the brothel.

"This community has suffered terror due to the brothel's presence," Bisi said.

Other residents of the community have also expressed concern over the continuous presence of the brothel in the community.

One of the residents, who spoke on condition of anonymity said, "There are constant fights in the brothel, the majority of the boys that come here fight over girls. Whenever there is a misunderstanding between them they break bottles and even shoot into the air. We are scared of such incidents," the resident said.

He added that most of the girls are between the ages of 17 and 21. "They are all young girls. Sometimes they fight with the boys because some of the boys go to them and after having sex they refuse to pay. It is so bad because these girls charge just N500."

Another resident of the community who spoke with PUNCH METRO also explained that beyond being a problem to the community, the brothel was also a problem to the religious organisations in the area.

He said this was because the brothel shared the same compound with a Church and is located just beside a Mosque.

"This brothel is a nuisance to our community. Some of the sex workers even go to the church, Grace Inland Mission Church International."

The residents also claimed that whenever crisis occurred in the brothel, the police arrested some of the sex workers but would release them as soon as the brothel manager contacted them.

Neither the sex workers nor the manager was available to speak with our correspondent, but the spokesman for the Ogun State Police Command, Mr. Muyiwa Adejobi, DSP, said he had no information on the residents' plight.

"The DPO in charge of the area said he did not arrest anybody from that place. Probably it was another police station," he said.

The most tolerant people on earth- mosque, church and brothel in one place, each doing their own thing, unmolested by the other

I heard that 30% of ogun state na Igbos.
Another news carrier reported the state having 28% sex worker population.

igbo kwe! kewnuzoo!

so they no fit pay 500 naira? they want awoof . but how can the mosque and church allow such to be going on there.