•Sex workers
Some hookers, otherwise known as commercial sex workers in Benin City, the Edo State capital, today cried out over alleged extortion after they were raided from their trysts around the Government Reservation Area (GRA), Benin.
The sex workers, who were arrested on Monday night during a raid by officials of the Edo State Migration Agency as part of efforts to rid the state of drug traffickers and sex hawkers, were profiled by the agency, reports Nigerian Tribune.
Upon their release, the ladies alleged that they were extorted for various sums of money ranging between N15,000 and N50,000, with the promise that the videos recorded during their profiling would not be posted on the internet.
The sex workers said they were shocked to find that, contrary to this agreement, the videos were later shared on social media without their faces being blurred.
According to them, one Uyinmwen Uyigue was the individual to whom they paid the extortion money. They also provided receipts showing various payments made to Uyigue’s Point of Sale (POS) account.
They claimed that Uyigue allegedly collected the money on behalf of the Edo State Migration Agency to ensure their videos were not circulated online.
Speaking to journalists, one of the sex workers, who declined to give her name, expressed shock that her video was still posted despite paying the agreed sum.
“I am still in shock. I haven’t been myself since last Thursday. The Edo State Migration Agency recorded us and promised not to post the videos after collecting N50,000 from each of us, but they went ahead and posted them.
“I have proof of the money paid through POS. I was shocked when friends and family members called to say they saw my video on TikTok and Instagram,” she lamented.
Another victim recounted her ordeal, saying, “On Friday evening, all these Migration people raided us at Ihama Street and arrested 30 of us. They detained us at their office and recorded videos with a promise not to publish them if we paid N50,000 each.
“The next thing, my family members saw the videos and started calling me. They said I brought shame to them and that they want nothing to do with me because of the video,” she further lamented.
When contacted, Mr. Uyigue confirmed collecting money from four sex workers but claimed the payments were fines imposed by the owners of the lodge where the women stayed.
Uyigue denied that the Edo State Migration Agency was involved in collecting the N50,000, stating that the money was a penalty imposed by the lodge operators on sex workers caught soliciting in public.
He explained that the lodge owners, operating under the Benin GRA Hospitality Forum, had agreed on a fine of N50,000 for any of their girls caught street hawking.
“Activities of drug dealers have become a stigma to our businesses. We met with the Migration Agency, and they convinced us they meant business.
“We, as an association, decided that any lodge owner whose girl is caught soliciting outside will pay a fine of N50,000. The money those arrested girls paid was a fine from the lodge, not to the Migration Agency,” Uyigue emphasised.
Meanwhile, the Director General of the Edo State Migration Agency, Lucky Agazuma, denied any involvement by the agency in extorting the sex workers, stating that the agency is well-funded and focused on rehabilitation efforts.
Agazuma said, “We have never extorted sex workers. Instead, we aim to rehabilitate them and reintegrate them into society.
“We have held several meetings with brothel operators. We told them we would not go after their brothels if they did not harbour underage girls.
“During our raids, we discovered that some of them kept underage girls. Those involved have been prosecuted and are now in prison, including the native doctor who administered oaths on them.
“There is also the issue of organ harvesting. As we speak, a husband and wife who trafficked a young girl to Mali are currently in prison,” Agazuma added.
