In Port Harcourt, Prostitutes Defy Ebola
In one of the spots on Azikiwe Street, a short distance from the back gate of the Rivers State University of Science and Technology (RSUST), it looked like a nudist convention, a bikini pageant or the set of a pornographic movie.
All around the building, there were young women between 18 and 35, clad in skimpy clothes that did more to expose their physical assets than cover them.
Each girl had a room, which was only big enough to contain a six-spring bed for her conjugal business. The expansive building contained about 50 partitioned rooms. In the building there was also a beer spot, where some young men were already getting drunk, while a few girls took smaller bottles of spirits and other hot drinks.
Caroline, 32, from Enugu State, has been in the “lodge” for two years. For her to start negotiations, one had to buy a bottle of drink for her. That was the standard operating procedure. After getting the drink, she opened the conversation with her client, who is this case is Saturday Independent reporter: “Let us go inside my room and talk.”
The client replied her, “No, let me know your price before we go in. More so, I don’t enjoy it if I use any protection like condom. I am sure you will permit me to do it skin-to-skin.”
“I want to play movie (pornography) for you as we discuss. Then I will roll on your manhood to turn you on. Don’t bother to love me. You can still be in love with the woman of your life, if you want. I promise I will s**k you because you are a clean man, different from all these small, small boys, she said ”
“Are you aware that there is Ebola disease in town, the client asked her.
“We don hear am o. Ebola no go catch me. My business still dey giripa. Even today sef, plenty customers don come go. I no believe say Ebola dey o. Even if e dey, I jump pass am,” she said.
The story was the same at another hot spot along the popular Peter Odili Road. Here, Princess (not her real name), aged 22, from Imo State, was a star. She was an innocent-looking damsel, dark-complexioned, plump and seductive.
To start discussions with her, her choice drink was Smirnoff Ice.
“What does it take to take you to a hotel for a night out? How much would you charge me for one night?” we asked her.
“We don’t need to discuss that in this open court. Can’t we go into my room? The amount is not a problem. We can settle that inside my room. We are not allowed to talk about that here because it will distract others”, she replied.
“Well, I want to take you to a hotel; will you follow me and how much will it cost me to sleep with you all night in a hotel in town?” Saturday Independent asked.
“I will take N12,000 and if you don’t use condom, I will take N15,000 from you.”
“It is okay by me, I will give you the money and do it without a condom. But are you not scared of the Ebola virus that is spreading so fast in town and is killing so quickly? You can contact it through sex and by body contact with the patient.”
“I hear am, but wetin person go do! People must survive. Ebola or no Ebola, people must eat and I can’t continue to depend on my parents, at this age. As I dey here, na me dey take care of two of my younger ones. I send money to them through this business. I am not afraid of any Ebola disease o. I am a child of God.”
Apparently, the Ebola Virus Disease, despite its deadly, virulent nature, is yet to be appreciated by call girls in Port Harcourt. This could pose a threat to the state and federal governments’ efforts to contain the killer disease.
Before the outbreak of EVD, prostitutes charged between N3,000 and N5,000 to sleep with a client outside their lodge. And to have a quickie a patron paid N1,000 for one hour. But that has changed now.
With the outbreak of the disease the rate has gone up. A “quick take” is now N3,000 with condom and N5,000 unprotected. To take a prostitute for an all-night session, the charges now range between N15,000 and N20,000, without condom.
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