Commercial sex workers desert brothels in Lagos

Brothels operating in Bari­ga area of Lagos and its environs have been hit by acute shortage of commercial sex workers fol­lowing the clampdown by Lagos State Government on brothels and places suspected to serve as hideouts for criminal elements in the area.

A special task force estab­lished by the state government had raided some brothels in the area in what is seen to be one of the strategic moves by the government to arrest the spate of violent crime in the area.

Last week, it was reported the death of a 65-year-old woman, who was burnt to death, when hoodlums suspected to be cult members invaded Oshinfolarin Street on a reprisal and razed the building where she resided. Bariga has in the recent months become a hotbed of cult activities.

Following the January 23 incident, which claimed one life, the state government had vowed to come down heavily on cult mem­bers and other criminal elements in the state.

In the wake of the clampdown on brothels and other places sus­pected to habour criminals in Bari­ga and its environs last Wednesday, no fewer than 100 suspected criminals including commercial sex workers were arrested.

The suspects were arraigned in batches at various courtrooms in the Lagos Magistrate Court sitting in Ogba on charges bothering on prostitution and wandering.

At Court 15, no fewer than 30 suspected sex workers arraigned before Magistrate A.S Odusanya pleaded guilty to the one-count charge slammed against them.

Consequently, they were sentenced to hours of community service with the option of fine.

The development may have caused a serious crisis for brothel owners and operators as they made frantic efforts to secure the release of the sex workers operating in their respective brothels.

Some of operators were over­heard lamenting the situation, which they claimed had impacted negatively on their business.

Meanwhile a follow-up surveil­lance in the area after the midweek raid, according to a highly placed source, indicated that other broth­els, which were not affected by last Wednesday’s onslaught have been deserted by commercial sex workers while most of the brothels were said to be under lock.

“It is going to be a sustained exercise. I don’t see the exercise ending until the area is rid off unwanted elements, who are bent on turning Bariga into another flashpoint of crime in the state,” said the source.