I want out: Young sex worker appeals for help to quit prostitution

A young, robust, beautiful-looking commercial sex worker in Awka, Philomena John (real name withheld), has appealed to public-spirited Nigerians to help her get a decent job to enable her to quit her current ignoble trade.

The 24-year-old, who hails from Abia, made the appeal in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Awka on Sunday.

John described prostitution as a “dehumanising, indecent, odd job,” adding, “I did not join prostitution because it is what I planned for in my life.

“It was the circumstances of life that turned me into a prostitute.

“After my father lost his job as a professional driver, it became difficult for my mother alone to cope with fending for us.

“I joined prostitution to help my parents raise my other four siblings.

“Honestly, I feel so sad doing this job. If only I can get help, I will quit.”

John further described prostitution as a nightmare, associated with all kinds of life-threatening risks and health hazards.
“On many occasions, I have come down with several illnesses.
“There was a day I almost died.
“I pray that one day God will help me through somebody to leave the profession.

“Do you know that as I speak with you now, my parents do not know what I do to help them?

“For the past eight months since I joined prostitution, I have had to lie to them,” she said.

John, who trained in a catering school in Lagos, said, “There is no job, nobody to assist me, and, to make things worse, no money to kick-start my catering business.”

“For how long will I have sex with all kinds of men against my wish? Oga journalist, can you hear that? Somebody is knocking on my door,” she said, pointing to her door.

“It is because I am beautiful and younger than these other women that I have many clients,” she whispered to me in her room.

She said that “short-time” (spending one hour with a client) costs between N10,000 and N15,000, while “all night” goes for N30,000 and above.

The hotel manager, who pleaded anonymity, said that male clients pay for rooms according to their grades.
He said that a short time of one hour in the facility goes for N2,500, adding that exceeding one hour usually attracts N4,000.

He said that some other short-time rooms go for N2,000 per hour, “and when you exceed one hour, you pay N3,000.”
He added that an all-night affair attracts between N2,000 and N5,000 depending on the grade of the room and the time of check-in.

He described the business as lucrative, notwithstanding the challenges and hazards.