Crisis Hits Lagos & Kano Sex Workers Over Lull In Business As Prices Drop Drastically 

P.M.EXPRESS reports that just like the law of supply and demand, there is supply of sex workers but few patrons are available, thereby forcing the price for sex in various brothels and hotels to drop sharply.

Findings revealed that the price of sex has dropped drastically as low as N500  for short time and N2500 for “till-day-break services due to the hardship faced over the recent economic policies of subsidy removal and foreign exchange.

Most patrons were said to hardly go to hotels to satisfy their sexual needs nowadays as expressed by workers in various hotels visited by our correspondent in Igando, Ikotun, Agege, Oshodi, Isolo, Ojuelegba, Mushin among other areas.

However, there is slight difference in Ajah, Lekki axis but what is generally  similar in those areas were stories of scrambling for few men still available, which forced the price for sex services to drop.

One of workers who spoke to P.M.EXPRESS on condition that her full name should not be mentioned, identified as Joy, said the situation is worse as some of the workers cannot even make money to pay for their accommodation.

Joy, who plies her trade in Agege area,  expressed their concern and explained that unlike in the past, a round of sex was between N2000 to N5,000 but it has dropped dramatically to between N500 and N1000. She lamented that despite the drop in prices, men are scare as they battle for customers thereby crashing the price further.

“We are now lobbying customers to do ‘business’ with them at very ridiculous low charges. Before now, a round of “short time” service could be settled with N5,000 within a time frame of one hour, but the biting effects of fuel subsidy removal had forced customers to disappear” Joy said.

Another worker, who plies her trade in the Ikotun area of Lagos, simply identified as Nonye, stated that things are not really going on well with their business for now because of the present economic challenges in the country.

“This business is tough! The business is no longer moving as it used to. Things have become so hard that if you see more than three customers in one day, you will thank God. Customers are hard to come by. And when they come, they offer very little and we collect it like . hat”

The sex worker, Nonye, explained that most workers now owe the brothels and hotel management for their rooms unlike before when it was easy to pay because of the availability of customers. She said that they usually N5,000 every day for their rooms but are owing now due to low patronage.

It appears that it is not Lagos State alone that the effect of harsh economic policies has hit the sex workers, reports says that it is the same in Kano State, where workers equally lamented over low patronage.

A worker identified, as Jennifer, stated:

“Before the fuel subsidy removal, we were enjoying high patronage with good prices. Those days, I used to attend to seven to ten customers everyday with good prices ranging between N5,000 and N10,000 for short time services”.

“This is apart from other incentives like good food, drinks, chickens and other goodies, which customers provide on their own volition unlike now when customers hardly come to hang out in the evening. We used to have customers on ‘day-break’ ready to offer well above N20,000 and also take care of your accommodation, food and drinks. This is really hard times for us,” she said.

Jennifer further stated that most of her colleagues, who could not pay for their rooms have returned home with regrets of penury.

“Some of the sex workers had left without their property as the hotel management seized their clothes and electronics because of the money they were owing. We that are still here are surviving through the grace of God,” she explained.

Narrating her latest experience as a result of the cash crunch, Ms Helen Ediga at Onitsha Road, said she was ready to quit the business if given alternative source of livelihood.

“I am not happy being into this kind of business. It is hardship that led me into it. I am a single mother with three children. I am the only one that takes care of them.”

“My man left us in Kano and relocated to Abuja, where he is currently staying with another woman. I come out every evening to hustle so that I can put food on the table for my three children and possibly train them.”

“Since the removal of fuel subsidy, we have been suffering. In most cases, I will spend the whole day without anyone asking me ‘how are you’. It has been a very bitter experience.”

P.M.EXPRESS gathered that it is also biting hard for those in the hospitality business in the two most populated cities as most night clubs, fun centres and beer drinking joints now record very low patronage as residents hardly come out in the evening for relaxation or to have “good time” due to the cash crunch coupled with the high cost of Premium Motor Spirit and diesel, which are used mostly to power the hotels.