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For commercial sex workers operating in the Ijora Badia slum in Lagos State, the recent demolition of their places of abode and business has left them in a tight spot.
Prior to the demolition of the area on February 23, 2013, the notable feature was lines of shacks built along a rail line and a swampy sand-filled site that had long become home to many.
Before the demolition exercise, on one side of the Ijora Badia slum were close-knit wooden houses where numerous families lived and on another side were the brothels constructed by commercial sex merchants. There were actually wooden shacks, constructed partly with tarpaulin.
At the time, it was not a strange sight to see scantily-clad young women and girls, milling in and out of the shacks, loud music blaring and young men smoking Indian hemp day and night.
The headmistress of a primary school facing the brothels said it was tough stopping her pupils from mixing with the prostitutes.
“You see young girls who cannot be more than 16 or 17 smoking Indian hemp and wearing skimpy dresses and waiting for customers. How can we prevent these children from mixing with them? It’s a terrible problem,” she had told our correspondent at the time.
An okada rider, who had a good knowledge of the prostitutes and their ‘trade’ was our correspondent’s guide during a visit to the area.
“I patronise them once in a while,” the comercial motorcyclist, Tunde, said with a grin.
Asked if there was still a place where “one could have a nice time with a babe” now that their shacks had been demolished, Tunde’s face lit up.
“Let me give you a tour of the rail line,” he told our correspondent and ran a commentary as the journey progressed.
Our correspondent noticed that none of the shacks along the rail line had been demolished.
But a section bordering the Ijora dumpsite had been wiped out. This is where the state government plans to build its housing estate and it has been fenced off.
A big sign post erected there says, “Lagos Home Ownership Scheme. 1008 Housing Estate.”
Our correspondent learnt that the side demolished by the state task force was where the commercial sex workers’ base used to be.
The few shacks left along the rail line are a mixture of residences and brothels as our correspondent saw some young women standing beside some of them, in skimpy clothes and heavy make-up. When our correspondent visited the area, some of the girls were seen smoking cigarettes.
Tunde told our correspondent, “Most of the wooden buildings on the side that have been demolished there were ‘hotels’ (another word for brothels in Ijora Badia).
“Even the prostitutes there are cheaper that the others living within the main Ijora community. I have a friend among them who was still telling me about two days ago, the problems they were currently facing.”
Our correspondent quickly asked if Tunde could locate that ‘friend’.
The young woman is a 23-year-old commercial sex worker known as Kate, who was seeking employment as a housemaid because she has lost her ‘home’ and her customers because of the demolition.
Tunde told her I was a friend, who helps those looking for work as housemaids.
Even though, she felt uncomfortable at first, she soon relaxed and spoke freely in our correspondent’s presence, when her friend told her that he was an occasional patron of the demolished ‘hotels’.
He told her, “But can’t you find a place temporarily to put up and at least make some money before the housemaid job comes?
“I only brought my friend to know you so that when he gets an opportunity, he would remember you. It may take some time for you to get a suitable place.”
Kate was bitter. She was frustrated and complained that she could not afford the high rent she would have to pay to continue her trade. At least, not with her N400 or N500 per customer ‘pay’.
She said, “People think we just like doing this job. If I have a choice, will I do it? If I can get a job as a housemaid, at least I will prefer that. Governor Babatunde Fashola has spoilt business for us.
“Two of my friends from Akwa Ibom and Edo states left for their villages last weekend when they could no longer survive. The highest people pay on that our side is N500 or N600. Our madams are the ones who take a large cut of that. At the end of the day, I only have about N200 from every customer to myself.”
A girl passed by as Kate spoke with Tunde and she pointed to her saying, “See that one? She told me she too will be going back to Ilorin tomorrow.”
Our correspondent learnt that commercial sex workers pay rent in their brothels.
The rent is collected daily and could go as high as N800 per worker, depending on the condition of the room. According to those who know the area, ‘comfortable rooms’ have relatively good beds.
Kate told our correspondent she paid N600 in her brothel, which was demolished, apart from the daily remit to her madam.
Tunde took our correspondent around what is now left of the Ijora slum. There was a lady in bum shorts and a camisole. Her fingernails were long and painted in bright colours walking along.
The commercial motorcyclist identified her as a sex worker.
Our correspondent beckoned on her and she responded.
“Let me speak with her first,” Tunde told our correspondent.
When the young woman approached, the motorcyclist told her that our correspondent was doing research on “night life” at Ijora and about those who have been displaced in the “hotels.”
When she made to walk away, our correspondent offered her some money with the promise not to reveal her identity.
Asked where she takes her customers, she said, “We don’t have anywhere to take them since government has demolished our houses.
“Some of us beg friends who still have places in town but they have to pay part of the rent. I’m looking for work though. If I get work in a restaurant, I can do it. Most of us cannot find work. That is why we still have not left this place.”
The woman whose age could not be more than 21 said she got to Ijora when she was 17.
“I cannot tell you how I came to Ijora or who brought me here. Anyway, I am from Delta State, if you must know,” she said, when our correspondent probed further.
A resident living not far from the rail line, told our correspondent that the population of the commercial sex workers had decreased.
“I know some of them are still around. But if you know what this place used to be like in the night, you will know that many of them have left or simply relocated to other areas,” he said
