Speaker of Edo State House of Assembly, Honourable Kabiru Adjoto, (Rtd) on Monday raised the alarm over the influx of commercial sex workers around the Legislative Quarters, in Benin City, the State capital.
Adjoto raised the alarm during the ministerial briefing by the State Commissioner for Youth and Special Duties, Mika Amanokha, at the House of Assembly.
The Speaker noted that the teenage commercial sex workers hang around the legislative quarters and hotels around its environs between the hours of 9 pm till dawn.
According to Adjoto; “Between Royal Marble [Hotel] and the gates of the Legislative Quarters, you find youths between the ages of 17 and 18 going naked.” He explained and urged the Commissioner to put machinery in motion to check the ugly trend.
Responding, the Commissioner who said it was not the jurisdiction of his ministry to stop the commercial sex workers from the area, however, added that information available to him indicated that they are business people and that he has no right to stop them.
“Mr Speaker, that control does not fall in the purview of my ministry. Yes, they are youths; it appears that the people I see or the people am told that goes around there are business people. I do not have the right to stop them…I haven’t gone around there at night to see what’s going on.”
At that point, the Speaker, Adjoto, was forced to ask; “what kind of business are they transacting, youths going naked, between the ages of 17 and 18, you say they are in business?”
Amanokha responded: “Mr. Speaker, I take very strong note of that, I will drive around the area to see what’s going on there.”
