A magistrates’ court sitting in Ogba, Lagos State, on Friday, September 27, 2019, sentenced six sex workers into three months’ imprisonment for prostitution.
The women, Joy Emmanuel, Tonia Ogini, Sandra Abraham, Joy Joe, Athani Therish and Nwachukwu Vera, were charged with exposing themselves to “public prostitution and conduct likely to cause a breach of the peace.”
They were arrested in the early hours of Friday by men of the Lagos State Environmental and Special Offences (Enforcement) Unit, who were said to have raided an illegal brothel around Mile 2 area of the state.
The operator of the brothel, one Charity Okafor, and four men, Muhammed Sani, Kabir Ayinde, Kunle Adeyemo and Kazeem Ololade, were also apprehended at the facility while some illicit drugs, including tramadol and Indian hemp, were allegedly recovered.
Olayinka Egbeyemi, the task force chairman, said that the brothel had been previously demolished by the agency during the clearing of illegal structures and shanties from Eric Moore Road to the Trade Fair end of the Lagos-Badagry Expressway.
The suspects were consequently arraigned before a magistrate, Mrs Olajebi Adelabu.
The sex workers pleaded guilty to the charges and were sentenced to three months’ imprisonment with an option of a fine of N40,000 each.
Okafor was charged with “conspiracy, harbouring of prostitutes in an illegal structure, conduct likely to cause a breach of the peace and unlawful possession of illicit drugs.”
She pleaded guilty and was sentenced to a six-month jail term without an option of fine.
Two of the male suspects, Sani and Ayinde, were given 48 hours community service after they claimed they had gone to the facility to buy food.
The other two, Adeyemo and Ololade, were charged with illegal possession of illicit drugs to which they pleaded guilty and were sentenced to three months’ imprisonment with an option of a fine of N20,000 each.
Taofiq Adebayo, the head of public affairs unit of the task force, confirmed the arraignment and details of the judgments to NAN.
