By Anozie Egole
Many Lagosians are of the opinion that they have resorted to night life as the only way to ease stress after a hectic work day. Some said that though it is not a good way of life, they only do that once in a while after work as that is the only time they have to relax.

Some sex workers who volunteered to speak with journalists  shared some of the reasons why they involve themselves in such business. These are some of their reactions as compiled by Saturday Vanguard.

It’s the only time I have for relaxation—Philips

I know moving in the night is not good  but that is the only time I have on my own to relax and catch  fun after a hectic day. As a civil servant, I work in Ikeja, I wake up  5:30 am everyday to go to work and come back around 8:30pm . Some times, I come back around 9:00pm depending on the level of the traffic and this happens from Monday to Friday. On Saturday, I use that for my laundry work.

So you find out that the only time I have to relax and enjoy myself with my friends is at night. I do not go out everyday. It is only on weekends especially, Saturdays and Sundays. As a bachelor, I have less to think about when I hang out. I like hanging out with my friends. Sometimes, we do attend clubs.

I enjoy nightlife—Nwadike

It is the only time we have to enjoy after the daily struggles. I used to hang out with my wife when we were newly married. But now ,God has blessed us with kids, I do not often go out again with her and I do not go out regularly again. I cannot stop nightlife especially, when the moon is out. The whole place is very enjoyable. It is a wonderful experience and I love that.

I started sex hawking at nights to train my siblings — Sharon

I started this job of sex hawking four years ago. I came to Lagos so that  I can work and send money to my younger ones whom I’m taking care of. The thing is that I didn’t have the intension of doing this job but when I came to Lagos, I was staying with my friend who works in Victoria Island.

We were happy living together but all of a sudden, she changed. She started talking to me any how, that I was not contributing to the upkeep of the  house and so, I started looking for a job. I’m not a graduate, I could not go to school because my parents were poor.

Talking about the type of job I would want to do if given the chance, I do not have any job in mind. All I wanted was a job that will bring money. So I got the first job at a restaurant, at Okota. They were paying me N5,000 but I could not continue because the salary was poor. I spend a lot on transportation. Then, I got another job where I spent only one week because my madam slapped me when one customer was touching me and I shouted at the customer.  She expected me to keep quiet when the customer was touching me.

So one day, me and my friend I was staying with said we should hang out and we decided to go to a night club. There,  I met some guys who danced with me. They  bought me drinks and food. But the  interesting thing was that at  the club, I saw girl dressed in mini skirt and I asked my friend what  those  girl are doing. My friend replied that there were prostitutes, and I asked again how much do they pay them, another friend  answered, may be N1000, N2000 per night.

So many thoughts came to my mind because, I was finding it difficult to feed and then, the  friend I was staying with lost her job. So, she was always threatening to  send me out of her house if I didn’t bring money for  feeding. There was nothing I could do than to go back to that night club and make enquiries on how I could join, because you have to register with them .

They said the registration fee then was  N3,000. But, I pleaded with them that I had nothing with me at hand and they allowed me to pay later. I used to have  enough customers because, men came in here everyday to have fun. I have my regular customers who patronize me from  Monday to Sunday, including single and married men. We also have our new customers who may pick interest in you because of your shape.

That is why we struggle to maintain ourselves. For my regular customers, if they want me, they will come directly into my apartment. I rented this apartment  and pay N8,000 monthly. So my customers will come and I will tell them the prize.

I charge N1,000 for short time and N2,000 if you want to touch other places like my breast and if you want to take me till dawn, you pay N3,000 but for regular customers, I give them discount or if they don’t have money there can pay later because the are regular. Sometimes, I give them free. I have a particular customer who I do not normally collect money from him because, he satisfies me so much.

I joined prostitution because of temptation—Tina

I came from Cross River State and I have been doing this job for the past five years. My mother had a beer parlor and so, people come there to drink. My mother and I will serve them drinks and pepper soup. So some of them will tell me they like me and will  dash me money.

Some will leave their balance for me. Some of them will come to me when my mother goes to the market to buy things and one way or the other, I started going out with one customer, another will give me lots of money and I will leave the other person.

I became a prostitute to train myself in school—Tracy

My name is Tracy. I’m a student of one of the universities in Lagos.  I go to school during the day and when I’m back, in the night, I go for my work to enable me take care of myself. Sometime, if I catch a new fish who is also rich, I don’t go to school. I have been in this for the past couple of years like, about two years now. I started this job because I don’t have anybody to sponsor me.

When I got admission into the university, my uncle paid my fees for the first year  but later, he told me that I am on my own, that he could not afford it any more. My parents are aged and cannot do any work any more to train me and I still have younger siblings.   The funniest part of the whole thing is that,  I have married men mostly as my costumers who book me mostly for weekends.

So I asked why they are still coming here since they are married but the answer I got from them is that their wives do not satisfy them well. As a business person, I always go for the man I know  will pay more. Sometimes, I end up having like two or three of them for the weekend, depending on how long  they will want to stay with me.

I do the best I can to protect myself and I also believe that somebody will die someday. What kills the person doesn’t matter, death is death no matter how it comes,” she said.