A human trafficking victim, Love John, says
she slept with more than 400 men in less
than five months in the Sango Ota area of
Ogun State.
Love, 22, and her 23-year-old sister,
Happiness, were lured into prostitution
sometime in January by their eldest sister,
Mary.
Mary also tricked a cousin, Joy Lawrence,
25, promising the three ladies that she
could give them jobs that would help them
make a decent living.
However, by the time they discovered that
they had been trafficked, the victims said
they had become trapped.
PUNCH Metro learnt that Lawrence and
another victim fled the hotel on Monday
when they could no longer bear the pain
they were subjected to.
Lawrence was reported to have been brought
to the Lagos zonal headquarters of the
Nigeria Immigration Service, which then
stormed the hotel and rescued other victims.
The agency also arrested Mary and the
owner of the hotel, one Mrs. Akpojaro Rose,
an indigene of Warri, Delta State.
It was learnt that the ladies collected
between N500 and N700 per sex, paid
N200 per day for hotel rates, and made
about N340,000 in savings within the
period.
Narrating her ordeal, Love told our
correspondent she did not have any formal
education because their father died when
they were toddlers.
She explained that her sister lured her into
prostitution, saying she slept with an
average of four men a day.
She said, “I was learning tailoring in the
village. My sister told me she could help me
get a job in Lagos; she didn’t tell me that
it was prostitution I was coming to do.
After we got to Lagos, she said we should
do this (prostitution) job so we can make
money to be able to finish my craft as a
tailor. I sleep with about four men in a day
and each of them pay me at least N500.”
Her elder sister, Happiness, also said she
was not aware she had been trafficked until
she arrived in Lagos and was introduced to
prostitution.
“I didn’t go to school and I have not learnt
any trade. I came to Lagos a few months
ago. My sister didn’t tell me this was what
I was coming to do in Lagos. She said it
was a good job,” she said.
Lawrence, who fled the hotel on Monday,
said she was told she would be trading when
she left their hometown in Ogoja, Cross
River State.
“I ran away because I didn’t like the work.
I don’t want to do it again. I never knew
this was the job,” the victim said.
But Mary said she did not want to bring her
relatives into the trade, adding that she
gave in to pressure when they kept asking
her to take them to Lagos.
She said, “I came to Lagos with a friend in
2014 and my friend introduced me to this
job. We were first using a hotel called
Happiness Hotel before we moved to
Morning Star Hotel in Sango Ota.
“When I travelled to the village, my sisters
started disturbing me that they wanted to
follow me to Lagos to go and work.
“When they continued to disturb me, I
decided to take them with me; but I didn’t
tell them I was into prostitution. I told my
mother I was working in a beer parlour.
“Each of us makes N2,500 to N3,000
daily. We sleep with an average of three to
four men and they pay between N500 and
N700.”
The 32-year-old said from January till May
16 when they were arrested, she had saved
N340,000 for the three girls.
She, however, alleged that the hotel was
raided by some policemen from the Sango
Ota division, whom they settled with
N150,000.
The owner of the hotel, Rose, told PUNCH
Metro that she gave out rooms to the girls
at the rate of N200 per day.
“I warned Mary that the girls were too
young, but she didn’t listen to me. I have
15 rooms in my hotel and I have seven girls,
who were paying me N200 every day. If I
had children of their age, I will not allow
them do this,” she said.
The Assistant Comptroller General of
Immigration, Musa Maza, who handed over
the victims to the National Agency for the
Prohibition of Traffic in Persons and other
related matters, said the suspects would be
prosecuted at the end of investigations.
He said, “This is a human trafficking case
in the form of enslavement and prostitution.
The victims were forced into sex against
their wish. Two of them actually escaped.
The whereabouts of one is unknown, but the
second victim contacted someone who
brought her to the immigration office.
“Parents should be vigilant and wary of
those who come for their children asking
them to be released in search of greener
pastures. We are handing them over to
NAPTIP for prosecution. We believe this
will serve as a deterrent to those that will
want to engage in this useless business.”
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