Society Gists

Some highbrow residential areas of Lagos especially estates reserved for the high net worth individuals have all virtually lost their prestige and serenity. This is certainly not just due to the conversion of buildings to business premises but the rate at which homes are being converted to brothels where young ladies are camped to meet the sexual needs of the rich and noble in such neighbourhood.

Worst hit by this social malady are the prestigious 1004 estate in Victoria Island, Lekki 1 and 11 as well as Oniru estate also in Lekki area. Investigations by SocietyGists reveal that several apartments and buildings in these areas have now been taken by pimps and ‘investors’ who sublet them to female undergraduates, jobless graduates and even the gainfully employed ladies who pay high rents weekly from monies made from sexual services provided VIPs who live in Ikoyi, VI, VGC and Lekki areas.

Findings reveal that pimps or investors, as they would want to be regarded, begin by renting a room self-contained apartment in 1004, Lekki or Oniru estate, furnish and equip the apartments with basic home appliances that will ensure comfort and then network with some sex racket cartels in the area to supply young ladies who will live there and pay rents to the ‘investor’ weekly.

In a room apartment, an average of 10 to 15 ladies are usually accommodated depending on the space. Each lady will pay a rent of between N10,000 and N20,000 weekly usually on Sundays depending on the amenities provided in such an apartment.

While a room apartment costs the ‘investor’ between N1.8 million and N2 million to rent per annum, a two-bedroom  apartment costs about N3 million and three-bed room N3.5 million and above.

One of the leaders of the sex cartels identified as Deola lives in a three-bedroom  apartment in the estate where she has about 10 other ladies living with her. Findings show that the young lady was until recently a student of a private university in Ibadan, Oyo State and presently travels across Europe to ply her trade and also import clothes and jewellery as a cover or official business.

Another leader of a sex cartel, Queen began the trade with a room apartment in Oniru estate where she also has about 12 ladies with a live-in young man who serves as the manager of the ‘business.’ Beside Oniru estate, Queen also has another apartment in Lekki phase 1 and a three-bedroom flat in Abuja where she lives with about 20 other ladies. She, however, comes to Lagos on special request or as business demands.

On how the ladies camped in these apartments are sourced, Queen told SocietyGists that they come from different sources. “Most of them are undergraduates who want to live big or make quick and easy money. Some are graduates who have no jobs but they have to maintain themselves or raise money for a business.

“They come to Lagos or Abuja everyday from the South-East and other parts of the country in their hundreds looking for something to do and where to stay. So, ours is just to provide them shelter and take them to VIPs’ parties or clubs where if they are lucky they can get picked by a big man. Some have been lucky and now run shows on their own while some others have been able to raise enough money to start a business”, she stated.

While dismissing any insinuation that what she and others do amount to operating brothels or prostitution, Queen said: “I won’t agree that it is prostitution because people still stay in their homes and do worse things. For instance, I once lived in such an apartment paying someone rent until God opened the way for me and I was able to rent my own place and today I have more than three apartments in Lagos and Abuja bringing money for me and by the grace of God, I will soon buy my own house because it is a clean business.”

SocietyGists further gathered that while some ‘heavy investors’ now take a full house in Lekki and Oniru to run the business, some landlords in the area, who have got wind of the lucrative nature of the business, are now ejecting their regular tenants who pay rents only once a year to covert their premises to the quick money business.

Funmi, who leads a cartel from her rented apartment located off Admiralty way in Lekki phase 1, told SocietyGists that “to convince you that it is a legitimate business, the landlord of the building where my friend lives about two streets from here has ejected all other tenants in the compound and everyone you find in that house now are ladies who pay him weekly. What it means is that he now takes his whole annual rent before in just a month now, which is better.”

On how they avoid falling into the hands of law enforcement agents, she said: “The ladies are usually well behaved because most of them are either graduates or undergraduates and they wouldn’t want to do anything that will expose them to ridicule. To show you that there is nothing illegal, we invite the police in Lekki division to throw out anyone making troubles or who refuses to pay rent after the Sunday pay day.”

She added: “Apart from young ladies who have no jobs, we also provide accommodation for even the working class because some live on the mainland and work on the island, so to cut cost of transportation, they prefer staying with us while some whose parents don’t allow men to visit them or go out also seize the opportunity to free themselves and do what they want to do.”

How do the sex hawkers gather enough money to pay between N10,000 and N20,000 weekly in addition to feeding and maintaining themselves? Funmi explained that all that money could be made in a day because “their targets or dates are VIPs who can afford to give them as much as N50,000 or N100,000 for a night. In fact, when we attend VIPs parties, some get paid in dollars to the tune of $2000 or $5000 while others who have no men to pick them sometimes get $500 as ‘thanks for coming’

“Which work will someone do to get such remuneration in Nigeria today even in a month?”

To cover their tracks and protect their family name, SocietyGists gathered that some of the ladies have resorted to printing business cards identifying them as CEO of Interior Decoration companies or owners of non-existing boutiques. Those that are not undergraduates are also presented by pimps to their VIP clients as London or US-based.

“The reason we introduce some of the girls as people who just came from London, US or South Africa is that the VIPs love paying them more or with foreign currency”, Funmi explained.

It was also learnt that while some landlords in the area have bought into the business, others have no knowledge of what their premises are used for. “Some landlords are strict and wouldn’t want more than one or two persons in their apartment but we manage to avoid the trouble of such landlords because the ladies we take in are decent people who will not attract any negative attention. Those who are students go to school during the day, while the jobless ones sleep indoor all day”, Queen explained.

She added that weekends are usually the busiest for the sex hawkers, some of who may not even return to base till Monday morning. “Yes, weekends are better for them because that’s when most of the VIPs come for functions in Lagos and for those around here, that’s also the time they hang out and will need a different treatment from what they get at home”, she added laughing.

Further findings by SocietyGists reveal that  the sex hawkers chose to set up their business in 1004 estate, Lekki and Oniru because of their status as some of the most expensive estates on the Island which can only be afforded by the rich and high net worth individuals.

“You know staying in 1004 or Lekki is a status symbol and any man who picks or drops you off in front of your apartment there will know that you’re not a poor or cheap girl. Big men value big babes too and pay more to keep or maintain relationships with them. That is why babes are running away from Ikeja or mainland generally towards this side because a guy will want to give an ikeja babe N20,000 after a date while the one on the island who may not even be finer will be going home with N50,000 or more for a date. It is all about packaging”, Amaka who is a student of a state owned university in South West and leader of a cartel in 1004 where her VIP man friend maintains a two bed apartment for her explained.

Beside this, the proximity of 1004 estate and the others to where their VIP customers live is another factor that determines where the ladies get accommodation. It was gathered that virtually every of the ladies or their camps have reliable drivers who drive unpainted cabs on their payroll and as such can call them up any time in the night where there is a need to provide service.

“Most babes prefer this axis because it is central and our cab men will access you within minutes of calling them any time of the night. You can’t call a cab by 1am or 2am to come pick you from Ajah or Ikeja and bring you to the island where you need to meet your guy in the odd hours, they wont be able to do that because of distance and security”, Amaka who is a final year student of computer science in the university added.

To induce themselves into enjoying the trade they ply, SocietyGists gathered that the girls live daily on doses of hard drugs such as cocaine and heroine, while those who can’t afford these go for bottles of Benylin cough syrup with codeine and Indian hemp. The rabid consumption of codeine has not only driven the cost of the drug high on the counter, it is hardly available because of the demand for doctors prescription by some pharmacy stores.

A quick way out of the scarcity of codeine is their resort to Indian hemp which is not only available in large quantity but far cheaper. Investigations reveal that suppliers of the weed also called marijuana now package them in the small dispensing envelopes sold at N500 per sachet. This, they smoke freely in their apartments, prepare and drink as tea or sometimes mixed and cooked with food.