A 32-year-old
mother of two has been arrested for allegedly luring homeless girls from
churches into prostitution in Lagos State.
The suspect,
Busola, was arrested on December 12 by operatives of the National Agency for
the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP).
According to
NAPTIP, Busola allegedly used to go to churches under the disguise of providing
accommodation for homeless. She would convince the churches to allow such girls
to stay with her and then, she would initiate them into prostitution.
Busola,
after bringing the girls into her house, would then distribute them to
different locations in Lagos for prostitution.
The Lagos
State Zonal Head, NAPTIP, Mr. Daniel Atokolo, disclosed that the money made by
the girls from prostitution, would be collected by Busola. “She lied to the
girls that she was keeping the money for them,” said Atokolo.
According to
Atokolo, after NAPTIP received information about Busola’s activities in the Oshodi
axis, a decoy team was deployed to the area, to get more information about the woman.
He said: “After
we were done with our underground investigation, we arrested her. She was
arrested in her house and there were four girls in her apartment.”
Revealing how
Busola runs her operation, Atokolo said: “The suspect used to go to churches to
tell pastors that she wanted to help some of the girls having accommodation
problems. It is because these pastors believed in her and were deceived by the
way she presented herself that they attended to her. Some of these pastors had
no reason to doubt her. Unknown to them, she was using the girls for prostitution.
One of the girls rescued in her apartment is an underage. What the suspect is
doing is modern slavery. Aside from the four girls we found in her apartment,
she still has others working for her. There was even a time suspect forced one
of the girls to have sex with her boyfriend.”
Busola, who
spoke with our correspondent, said it was her friend, Kabirat that introduced
her to prostitution. She explained that she went into the business after her
husband, who travelled to Malaysia, abandoned her with two children. The said
husband remarried over there.
Busola recalled:
“I was arrested on December 12. It was when I got to NAPTIP’s office that I knew
my offence. It was true I took the girls from churches. Two of the girls were
already into prostitution before they came to stay with me. I didn’t collect
their money from them.”
Busola
further spoke on how she met the girls and accommodated them. Speaking about
one of the girls called Blessing, Busola said: “I met her when I was working in
a restaurant. After I left there, we
departed but she later located and begged me that her aunt had sent her away
from home. She said that she had nowhere to sleep, that was why I accommodated.
She promised to return to her village in Ekiti State. But after a while, she
refused to return to her village. While we were still on the issue, I met Abigail,
the girl from the church. I got to know her when I went for seclusion in a
Celestial Church. The owner of the church sent her away for disrespecting her. When
I was through with my prayer, there was a woman in the area where the church
was located called Iya-Anu. She begged me that I should allow Abigail to stay
with me. I eventually allowed her.
It’s true I
beat Abigail and forced her to have sex with my boyfriend. On the fateful day,
I was sleeping in the room with Abigail when my boyfriend came. He said he wanted
to make love with me, I told him it wouldn’t be possible because I was
menstruating. Abigail was with me in the room when my boyfriend came. I told my
boyfriend that I wouldn’t be able to do what he asked. He then said that if I
couldn’t do it, I should allow my sister to do it. When I called Abigail for
him, I didn’t know what he discussed with her. What I later saw with Abigail
was money, which I believed was from my boyfriend. While their discussing was
going on, I had earlier left the room for them. It is also true that I’m a
prostitute. I went into it in order to
take care of my two children after their father abandoned us. I have tried
several businesses, but none worked.”
Busola said
that she used to sell herbs, but it was a business that didn’t fetch much
money, she then had to seek employment in a restaurant.
She said: “It
was while I was working in the restaurant that I met a woman who took me to a
party. It was at the party that I met Kabirat. Kabirat told me to quit working
at the restaurant and follow her to Ajah. She said that I would make cool money
without stress. That was how I quit the restaurant job and went to Ajah. When I
got to Ajah, I didn’t like the place she asked me to start hustling. We later
left the place and went to Obalende, where we stand by roadside, waiting for men
to call us. My colleagues wear skimpy dress, but I only wear trouser, because I
was not happy doing that sort of work. I always think of my children sleeping at
home alone. I was also tutored on how to handle customers and the various
prices to charge them. The charges for short time are different from full night
and the guy must wear a condom. After working a while at Obalende, I fell ill.
I stopped the prostitution work and went back to selling herbs. After I
got better, I returned to Obalende to continue with prostitution.”
Atoloko said
that the suspects would be charged to court after completion of the
investigation.
No comments:
Post a Comment