Abuja prostitutes have been given a 48-hour ultimatum to leave the capital city, while their customers have also been threatened with the death sentence.
The ultimatum was made by the Secretary for Social Development, Mrs. Blessing Onuh after an official visit to locations where prostitutes carry out their activities in the Federal Capital Territory.
Onuh warned that severe measures had been lined up for sex hawkers, after security agencies combed several red-light districts and made series of arrests.
She bemoaned the menace of prostitution in the state, saying that Abuja’s powerful men are their regular customers.
“They parade a horde of half-unclad girls and women of various ages and sizes brazenly exposing themselves, while openly and desperately beckoning on motorists and passers-by to pick them for the night.”
“They insult, poke rude jokes and pour vituperation on those who look at them scornfully or ignore them. Indeed, for Abuja’s affluent and powerful men, it has become commonplace to place order for these women
on the street or import them from other states and even from far-flung countries in the Caribbean and Asian countries.”
Onuh also added that the prostitutes have become regular attendees of social and political functions in the state.
“High-society social, political functions are incomplete without a harem of these shadowy women. The import of these is that the upsurge requires a holistic framework to be able to deal with this seemingly intractable scourge,” she added.
