A 32-year-old lady, Mary John, has revealed to officials of the Nigeria Immigration Service, Zone A, Ikeja, Lagos State, the reason she tricked two of her younger sisters and a cousin to Lagos and forced them into prostitution. Mary, from Cross Rivers State, said she lied to the girls that hairstylist work was awaiting them but on reaching Lagos, she talked them into becoming prostitutes.
The girls, Joy Lawrence 22, Happiness John 23 and Love John 22, said they were shocked when they realised Mary, whom they held in high esteem, was a prostitute. The suspect, who said she used to have sex with four to five men every day, added that she usually charges each of her clients N400.
Sometimes, in a day, she would smile to her room with N3000 to N4000. She added: “I sleep with about four to five men every day. If I play well with some of them, they pay me N500 or N700, depending on the pocket of the man.”
According to Mary, she convinced her sisters and cousin to join her in prostitution because their mother was in dire need of financial assistance. She said they had made over N300,000, when policemen stormed the hotel one day, arrested them and collected N150, 000 for bail.
Her words: “Each time I travelled to the village, my sisters always nagged at me that they want to follow me to Lagos. I brought them to Lagos this year January. Our father is late and our mother is not doing anything. I brought them to Lagos, so that we could make money and assist our mother financially. “I lied to them. I initially told them that I work in a hotel. When they came to Lagos, I told them the truth.
They had no option than to join me in prostitution. They wanted to make money too. They agreed immediately without stress.” The Assistant Comptroller of Immigration, Mr. Musa Masa, said: “The young ladies were deceived into prostitution by their sister Mary.
She told them that they were coming to Lagos to assist her in her hairstylist work. The girls were later forced into prostitution by Mary. The owner of the hotel, Akpoghare Regina, assisted in forcing them girls to sleep with men against their will.”
Masa said that the prostitution ring was smashed after Mary’s two sisters, escaped from the hotel. One of them went to report the sexual slavery at Immigration office, Ikeja.
Masa said: “It’s unfortunate that young girls find themselves in this kind of situation. The issue of sex slavery is becoming alarming. Parents should be wary of people who come to them pretending they went to help their daughters to Lagos in search of greener pastures.”
Regina, an indigene of Delta State, said: “Whenever these girls bring their clients to my hotel, they pay me N200 for each of the men. I wasn’t the person that brought the girls into my hotel, their sister did. Mary had been patronizing my hotel, Morning Star, located at Sango, for long.” Regina, who said her hotel boasts of 15 rooms, noted that Mary had been staying in her hotel for four months, before bringing her sisters and cousin.
“In fact, on the day Mary brought the three girls, I wasn’t even around,” said Regina. Regina continued: “When I returned, I told Mary the girls were too young for prostitution. I instructed her to return them, but Mary pleaded with me. I was only running my business. It never occurred to me that I would be arrested.” Narrating the genesis of her journey to Lagos, Mary said that she came to Lagos with a friend in 2014.
She was working with Indomie Noodles Company as a flour mixer when a colleague, who had earlier resigned, told her there was a better lucrative job somewhere. Mary said: “My colleague took me to Happiness Hotel at Sango, where I started prostitution.” Mary said that she never once collected money her sisters and cousin made in prostitution, explaining, “They saved their money after deductions of hotel and feeding money.
We had been able to save N340, 000, 00, but policemen raided our hotel. We had to bribe them with N150, 000. It was after the policemen collected the money that we decided to leave Happiness Hotel for Morning Star.” Lawrence, Mary’s cousin, said that she decided to follow Mary to Lagos because she wanted to make some money. She said she was however shocked when they reached Lagos, only for Mary to tell them the true nature of her work.
Lawrence said: “When I could longer bear the hardship in the hotel, I ran away. I went to report everything to the immigration officer. He took me to their office and later went to arrest my sister. I want to change. I can be a better person. I used to have sex with three men on a daily basis and make at least N1500.” Happiness said: “Mary persuaded me to join her in Lagos. She said we would work to raise money in order to assist our mother. But I never knew it was prostitution.
When we got to Lagos, I discovered the truth. I had no choice than to do what they were all doing in the hotel. I didn’t want to die of hunger.” Love said: “I don’t allow any man to have sex with me without condom. I don’t want to get pregnant.
Government should set us free; we had nobody to advise us before we embarked on the journey to Lagos. Our mother must not hear about our activities in Lagos. She would die!” The victims, Regina and Mary were handed over to the National Agency for Prohibition of Traffic in Persons and Other Related Matter (NAPTIP) for further investigations and prosecution.
