Teenage prostitution hits Ekiti as illicit drugs, cultism thrive

By Wole Balogun, Ado Ekiti
EKITI State, once known as fountain of knowledge due to
the insatiable appetite of the people for western education
is gradually becoming the hub of teenage prostitution.
Daily Sun investigation in the state revealed that teenage
girls now abscond from the parents’ home to hook up with
boy friends and man friends for weeks.
Parents, it was gathered have become helpless as the
female teenagers engage in unbridled quest for fun, drugs
and sex.
Some of the girls smoke Indian hemp with relish as they
are camped in several hideouts of criminal gangs.
Some of the girls were rescued recently in Ado Ekiti Local
Government Area of the state. A member of the vigilance
group that rescued the girls, Babatunde Owoeye gave
insight into the ugly trend:
“We picked two of them in Atikankan area and the others
in Oke-ila, Ado Local Government Area. The parents of
one of the girls named Tolu have been looking for her for
about two weeks ago. When we eventually got a tip-off
about her whereabouts, we stormed the place and her
friend helped tricked her to come out from the place for us
to apprehend. Some tough looking young men in the place
rushed out of the place, armed with cutlasses and tried to
attack us. But when they discovered that we out-
numbered them, they fled.
“We discovered that the girls camped in the hideouts, were
made to have marathon sex with the bad boys, who intro­
duce them to hard drugs and initiate them into cults. Many
of the girls had absconded home for weeks.
The girls did not deny the allegations. 16-year-old Suliya,
said she left home nine days before she was caught. “I
had dropped the palm oil my mother asked me to hawk at
my grand mum’s place and followed my friends to visit the
boys. I have a boyfriend among the gang. We had stayed
with the boys till around 7pm that day and I reasoned that
it was already too late. We passed the night with the boys
and had sex with them. I was afraid to go back home,
thinking that my mother would beat me, so we began to
stay with my friends’ grandmother. We would sleep there
and in the morning, eat and go to the boys’ place and stay
with them till late in the night before returning to the grand
mother’s place.”
She explained further: “We all have boyfriends among the
Seven Stars cult in Atikankan. My own boyfriend had
seized my cell phone when he said I was playing games
on the phone when he wanted me to kiss and romance
him and I refused.”
Tobi, 16, abandoned home when her mother sent her on
an errand. She did not return until two days after, prompt­
ing her angry mother to send her back to where she had
gone. Her story: “So, I ran to my grand mother’s place and
was staying with her. I also have a boyfriend among the
boys. His name is Fatai but he is nicknamed Fatty.
“My boy friend buys clothes, shoes and bras for me and
other things. He also feeds me and sometimes gives me
N2, 500 to take care of myself.”
The young girl also revealed how her boyfriend had intro­
duced her to Marijuana: “The first time I tasted Marijuana.
My boyfriend had mixed it with cooked spaghetti and gave
me to eat. I felt high that day and since then I had been
taking the stuff,” she said.
Assistant Commander of the Vigilance Group, South West
zone, Mr. Femi Ogunleye, said complaints and useful
information from parents assisted his group in raiding and
apprehending the girls: “We acted on a tip-off from some
of the girls’ friends and parents. We ransacked all the
crannies of Ado slums, Oke-ila and Atikankan.
He called on the state governor, Ayodele Fayose to assist
the vigilance group to curb crimes in the state.