Across big cities in Nigeria, they cruise around in
flashy cars and own good businesses but in the United Arab Emirates
(UAE), many Nigerian ladies engage in prostitution to keep their
businesses afloat.
Flashy cars. Blinking bank accounts. Good businesses.
They have it all. The good things of all fall on their laps. Like the
queens that many see them to be outside, they live large.
Welcome to the world of the Nigerian ‘big babes’ who call the shots
as far as prostitution is concerned in Dubai, that artificial creation
in the United Arab Emirates which has caught the world’s attention.
Dubai covers an area of 1500 square miles and sits 52 feet above
sea level. It is the gateway to Asia and is described as the Las Vegas
of the Middle East. On the streets of Dubai, these ladies are the centre
of attraction and back home, especially in cities such as Lagos, Abuja
and Port Harcourt, they own big businesses and drive flashy cars, yet
from time to time, they acquire two months visa to Dubai for no reason
other than to indulge in commercial sex. With the help of syndicates,
they secure accommodation in hotels and apartments.
It came as a shock to this reporter, whose first time it was in
Dubai. Having booked her accommodation online at the Africana Hotel,
Deira, she was hopeful to have some quiet time and arriving the Dubai
International Airport and seeing the Arabs all covered, with warning
prohibiting indecency, she thought: “At least, there is some decency
here!”
But she was soon to realize that beneath the cleanliness and
splendour of the city lies a dirty trade, which even Sheiks are said to
patronise when no one is watching. The moment this reporter stepped into
the hotel she had reserved online, she saw an army of half-naked women,
parading the premises.
Shocked by the contrast, she had quickly asked: “What’s going on
here?” The reply from the smiling front desk person was: “They are from
your country, Nigeria. They are our guests. See these ladies, they pair
themselves in a room, some even stay three in a room. So, in case you
want to save money, you can pair with any of them!”
But her response did not quench the reporter’s curiosity. It did
not answer why half-nude Nigerian women, as early as 9am, were flaunting
their bodies in front of the hotel with some black guys giving them
signals.
At that moment, she made up her mind she was not going to stay in
that hotel but would definitely visit the place at night for a better
understanding of the mystery.
Having successfully checked into another hotel, with the help of an
agent whose number she got from her friend who frequents Dubai, the
reporter revisited the Africana Hotel.
The time was 11pm and the environment well lit, with a beehive of
skimpily-dressed trooping in and out of the hotel. Observing quietly,
the reporter overheard some of the ladies, seated at the reception
complaining how the business has gone sour.
One of the ladies said: “Things are not as easy as they used to be
when I started this business. There were some weeks I made about $5,000
from these Arab and European men.
“But since more babes from Nigeria got into it, there are so many
‘runs girls’ in Dubai that for the past one month, I have not made up to
$5,000.
“Worst still, some of my clients have suddenly changed and started
demanding anal sex. I had a terrible experience recently with a European
whom I met inside an elevator at a big hotel.
“We exchanged contacts after he paid $300 for a ‘blow job’ in the
elevator. Then, subsequently, we met and had pizza and he offered $1,000
for sex in his apartment.
“I thought he was a decent guy until I got to his apartment. He
threatened me with a knife to accept sex with me through the anus or he
will kill me.
“I begged him to collect his money and let me go but the oyibo man
refused and had his way. Imagine what I have denied most of my contacts,
who would have even paid more for it, that stupid European got it by
force and still he collected his money back.
“I am just tired of this business. Though I own a big boutique in
Festac, it is through these ‘runs’ that I foot my bills because there is
little profit in the boutique business.”
Another one, whom they called Jane while sympathising with her
friend, told the girls that Alhaja [her pimp] had earlier warned her not
to carry money to her customer’s place.
“Alhaja warned me that these days, the men will sleep with you and
still collect your money. So, since then, I usually drop any advance
payment with her.
“I do not want a situation whereby one stupid man will collect the
money I have laboured for. Any valuable thing I have, I usually drop
them with Alhaja and she gives me back once I demand for them.
“So, my dear, learn from this experience and most times, it is
better you tell the men ahead of time what you can do and what you
cannot do,” said Jane.
Jane, who claimed she resigned from her place of work in Lagos
where she served as a marketer, attributed her resignation to meagre
salary.
“I graduated from the university two years ago and got a job where I
was paid N20, 000 per month. The hardship and frustration in Nigeria
pushed me into prostitution and I have no regrets because I now have a
better life. I own my own apartment, a car and a big saloon in Lagos,”
she said.
Baffled by the revelations of the ladies, the reporter asked a
travel agent how the women were able to practise open prostitution in a
Muslim country.
Hear him: “Is there anything Nigerians cannot do? Most of these
girls I know them in Nigeria. Some are rich and own big businesses,
while some are students.
“They apply and acquire two months’ visa and with the help of
travel agents and some big women, they get accommodation in hotels and
even apartment. Then, those women who also have guys working for them
usually link them up with men.
“Most of them register and submit their international passports to
the women or their contact persons and every night; this is how they
keep going about.
“It is very embarrassing that Nigerian ladies, including married
women, come here for prostitution. That is how one of them saw me in
Festac last year and she was hiding because she knows I know what she
does in Dubai.
“Once a woman calls me that she wants two months’ visa, I just know
that is what she is coming for and I turn them down. Some will say
there is no job in Nigeria and they want to come and hustle.
“What is paining me now is that this nonsense that they do has made
it difficult for us to secure genuine visas for decent people. Also,
most hotels have increased their rates, with some even refusing to give
their rooms to single women coming to stay that long.
“If you go around this neighbourhood [Deira], you will see that
these stupid girls even rent apartments, which they keep and pay for
even while they are in Nigeria, yet they claim it is unemployment and
poverty that led them into prostitution.
“It is a serious issue and I think the Federal Government needs to
act on it urgently, if not, these girls will spread diseases in Nigeria,
aside the bad image they are painting of the country already,” said the
travel agent.
Continuing, the agent narrated how one of the prostitutes approached a client of his who lodged in the hotel sometime in June.
“The girl just knocked on the door and when my client opened, she
called her outside and was telling her to stop acting like a child. I
just stood by the door and I was hearing their conversation. She told my
client that most of the men who have seen her want her to play by the
game.
“But my client refused and told the lady that she was in Dubai for
business and not prostitution and the girl, while insisting, said most
of them own businesses in Nigeria and that they prostitute to cover
their expenses.
“She even said that my client can make the money she will use to
buy her goods in one night, thereby she would not spend the money she
came with or buying more things.
“I was so angry that I had to come out and warn the girl to mind
her business and allow my client who has told her she was not interested
in prostitution.
“That was why I came immediately you told me she gave you my number and that you want a decent place to stay,” he said.
Yet in this city, there are strict religious laws against
prostitution. A western women once got a month imprisonment for a peck
on the cheek. The law in Dubai has clear rules that prostitution is
illegal. If you are caught by the police, both you and the prostitute
will be put into jail and wait for the sentence of the local court.
If you are not a national, apart from the punishment of being
sentenced by the court, you will be asked to leave the UAE and will not
be allowed back in again.
There are different categories of prostitutes in Dubai. There are
the willing ones and the forced ones who are threatened into it by
pimps. The bulk of the Nigerian ladies in the trade are the willing ones
and if they are caught, unfortunately, they will go for it.
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