‘For six months, ‘Chairlady’ forced us to have sex with 20 men daily’

•Say they were taken from their homes after
being hypnotised....

Four schoolgirls have narrated how they were
recruited into prostitution by a suspected
human trafficker, Abigail Nweke Alo, in an
alleged brothel located in Calabar business
area.
Felicia Nzuworgar, 17, Patience Williams, 18,
Angela Benjamin, 17 and Charity Nkwogor, all
from Okun and Vandeikya Local Government
Areas of Benue State, said Abigail, who they
called ‘Chairlady’, took them from their
homes, in January, under the pretense that she
was taking them to Lagos where she had a
drinking spot to work as sales girls but ended up
as sex workers in Calabar.
“I was selling oranges in our market in Okun
when she tapped me on the shoulder and I
turned thinking she wanted to buy oranges but
she told me she had a business in Lagos and
wanted me to follow her. I did not know what
came over me. I just followed her without even
telling my parents and friends where I was
going”, Felicia told Sunday Vanguard.
Patience, a senior secondary school 2 Student
in Vandiekya, on her part, narrated that she
was plating a friend’s hair in front of her
grandmother’s house where she lived when Mike,
a commercial motorcycle rider, who lived in her
neighbourhood, came to inform her that a lady
was looking for someone to work in a beer
parlour in Lagos, and wanted to know if she
would like to go with her.
“I told Mike that I was still in school and could
not go with the lady and that she should look
for someone else. But instead of looking for
somebody else, Mike went and brought the lady
and when she looked into my eyes, I simply went
inside and packed my clothes and followed her
without waiting for my grandmother who went
out to come back”, she stated.
Recounting her own experience, Angela said she
was on her way from school when the lady met
her and told her she wanted to take her to
school in Lagos and also assist her (Abigail) in
her beer parlour business and she went with her
into the bus where other girls were waiting.
They girls, on their way from Benue to ‘Lagos’,
stopped in Enugu where they spent the night in
the house of a man who, according to her, had
seven wives. The man was said to have given
them concoction to drink after which they were
warned that if they tried to run away, their
private parts would rot and they would die.
“The man took us into his medicine hut and gave
us the concoction to drink and, when we refused
to drink, he beat us. He told us that if we went
out without drinking, we will die. After we
drank, he said that if we ran away from
‘Chairlady’, our private parts would rot and we
will die”, Felicia said.
According to her, after the encounter with the
man, the next day, they continued their
journey. “We got to Calabar in the night and
when I asked ‘Chairlady’ if this was Lagos, she
said yes”.
The next day, at the alleged brothel where they
were lodged, the girls said Abigail gave them
boxer shorts to wear and begin to ‘hustle’ for
men like other girls in the place were doing.
When they refused, ‘Chairlady’ descended on
them and beat them mercilessly.
“We arrived Calabar in the night and, the next
morning, she collected our phones and brought
boxer shorts to us that we should wear and, when
we asked her where the drinking parlour was so
that we could start work, she said we should
hustle like other girls were doing by sleeping with
men and, when we refused, she beat us up
mercilessly”, Patience narrated.
According to her, nobody came to their rescue as
all the prostitutes in the brothel were afraid of
Abigail because she was their head. “Everybody
in the hotel was afraid of her because she was
their boss and, if anyone dared to challenge
her, she will send the person out of the place”,
she said.
They had to agree to begin sleeping with men
after some days as ‘Chairlady’ allegedly went
on beating them ceaselessly and denying
them of food.
“You can see marks on our bodies because of the
beating we got”, Angela said. They recounted
how each of them slept with an average of
twenty men every day while Abigail collected
the money they made, leaving them with
N500.00 as feeding money.
The girls explained that when they started the
commercial sex work, it was very painful as they
were not used to sleeping with such a large
number of men daily.

•Suspected human trafficker… Iam innocent
By Taboola
‘For six months, ‘Chairlady’ forced us to have
sex with 20 men daily’
ON July 10, 2016 7:30 AM / IN Metro ,
News / Comments
•Say they were taken from their homes after
being hypnotised
By Emmanuel Unah
Four schoolgirls have narrated how they were
recruited into prostitution by a suspected
human trafficker, Abigail Nweke Alo, in an
alleged brothel located in Calabar business
area.
Felicia Nzuworgar, 17, Patience Williams, 18,
Angela Benjamin, 17 and Charity Nkwogor, all
from Okun and Vandeikya Local Government
Areas of Benue State, said Abigail, who they
called ‘Chairlady’, took them from their
homes, in January, under the pretense that she
was taking them to Lagos where she had a
drinking spot to work as sales girls but ended up
as sex workers in Calabar.
“I was selling oranges in our market in Okun
when she tapped me on the shoulder and I
turned thinking she wanted to buy oranges but
she told me she had a business in Lagos and
wanted me to follow her. I did not know what
came over me. I just followed her without even
telling my parents and friends where I was
going”, Felicia told Sunday Vanguard.
Patience, a senior secondary school 2 Student
in Vandiekya, on her part, narrated that she
was plating a friend’s hair in front of her
grandmother’s house where she lived when Mike,
a commercial motorcycle rider, who lived in her
neighbourhood, came to inform her that a lady
was looking for someone to work in a beer
parlour in Lagos, and wanted to know if she
would like to go with her.
“I told Mike that I was still in school and could
not go with the lady and that she should look
for someone else. But instead of looking for
somebody else, Mike went and brought the lady
and when she looked into my eyes, I simply went
inside and packed my clothes and followed her
without waiting for my grandmother who went
out to come back”, she stated.
Recounting her own experience, Angela said she
was on her way from school when the lady met
her and told her she wanted to take her to
school in Lagos and also assist her (Abigail) in
her beer parlour business and she went with her
into the bus where other girls were waiting.
They girls, on their way from Benue to ‘Lagos’,
stopped in Enugu where they spent the night in
the house of a man who, according to her, had
seven wives. The man was said to have given
them concoction to drink after which they were
warned that if they tried to run away, their
private parts would rot and they would die.
“The man took us into his medicine hut and gave
us the concoction to drink and, when we refused
to drink, he beat us. He told us that if we went
out without drinking, we will die. After we
drank, he said that if we ran away from
‘Chairlady’, our private parts would rot and we
will die”, Felicia said.
According to her, after the encounter with the
man, the next day, they continued their
journey. “We got to Calabar in the night and
when I asked ‘Chairlady’ if this was Lagos, she
said yes”.
The next day, at the alleged brothel where they
were lodged, the girls said Abigail gave them
boxer shorts to wear and begin to ‘hustle’ for
men like other girls in the place were doing.
When they refused, ‘Chairlady’ descended on
them and beat them mercilessly.
“We arrived Calabar in the night and, the next
morning, she collected our phones and brought
boxer shorts to us that we should wear and, when
we asked her where the drinking parlour was so
that we could start work, she said we should
hustle like other girls were doing by sleeping with
men and, when we refused, she beat us up
mercilessly”, Patience narrated.
According to her, nobody came to their rescue as
all the prostitutes in the brothel were afraid of
Abigail because she was their head. “Everybody
in the hotel was afraid of her because she was
their boss and, if anyone dared to challenge
her, she will send the person out of the place”,
she said.
They had to agree to begin sleeping with men
after some days as ‘Chairlady’ allegedly went
on beating them ceaselessly and denying
them of food.
“You can see marks on our bodies because of the
beating we got”, Angela said. They recounted
how each of them slept with an average of
twenty men every day while Abigail collected
the money they made, leaving them with
N500.00 as feeding money.
The girls explained that when they started the
commercial sex work, it was very painful as they
were not used to sleeping with such a large
number of men daily.
“ It was very painful when we started. Everyday
we slept with an average of twenty men for
N500.00 each and, because we were young and
new, men would line up and wait for us till
about 12 midnight when the hotel closes and
then ‘Chairlady’ will come in and collect the
money and, since she used to count the
condoms she was giving us, if you did not give
her all the money, she will beat you mercilessly”,
Patience said.
The girls said Abigail had male aides who
searched their rooms and their bodies at the
close of work each day to ensure they had
not hidden any money and, if any money was
found with them, they would be beaten up.
They said Abigail, on arrival in Calabar, having
collected their phones, did not allow any of
them to step outside the alleged brothel for fear
that they might run away and that, two of
them, Angela and Charity, who attempted to
escape, were severely beaten by the woman and
her male friends.
“ When I tried to run away, she brought a
soldier and a policeman who were her friends
who beat me up and poured tear gas in my eyes
and, because of that, I became very sick and
could not stand up for many days”, Angela
recounted.
On why they followed the woman without letting
their parents know even as they were still in
secondary school , the girls said once the
woman touched them on the shoulder, they
became hypnotised and went with her.
Abigail, who claimed to be from Ebonyi State,
said her arrest by operatives from Anti-Human
Trafficking Unit of Cross River State Police
Command was due to jealously. She said she was
not the one who brought the girls to Calabar.
Mr John Eluu, Cross River State Police Command
Public Relations Officer, said the suspected
human trafficker will face the law and warned
young girls to be cautious of promises of jobs in
Lagos or any other town by human traffickers
without proof.
‘Chairlady’ has since been charged to court for
alleged kidnapping and engaging in
prostitution.