Posted by By Kayode Ketefe on
The Police on Thursday arraigned 90 girls and three men before an Ikeja Magistrate Court presided over by Mr. Adeola Adedayo, over alleged breach of peace.
The Police on Thursday arraigned 90 girls and three men before an Ikeja Magistrate Court presided over by Mr. Adeola Adedayo, over alleged breach of peace.
The girls and the young men were charged with a one-count offence of "conduct likely to cause breach of public peace" which is punishable under Section 249 of the Criminal Code Law of Lagos State.
All the girls were picked up late in the night on Wednesday at various locations in Opebi, Allen and Ikeja areas, allegedly in suspicious circumstances.
Some of them were allegedly arrested at some brothels while some were picked on the roads, either walking or riding on motorbikes, popularly known as Okada.
The girls were brought to court wearing "indecent clothes" in which they were arrested. Our correspondent however observed that while the majority of the girls dressed in provocative outfits, there were some of them who dressed normally.
The girls had been detained overnight at the Area F, Police Command, Ikeja.
The magistrate granted each of them, bail in the sum of N20, 000 with a condition to produce one surety each.
The N20,000 was required to be paid in cash to the court by each of the accused before their bail could be perfected.
The names of some of the girls are Kehinde Obariounse, Olaoulwa Yahaya, Queen and Rose Ekpeyong,Vivian Odia, Mary Johnson, Joy Okafor, Aisha Musa, Rose Anita and Blessing Anita.
Our correspondent gathered that the clampdown on the indecently dressed girls and commercial sex workers by the Police was as a result of the order made by the new Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Muhammed Abubakar.
Speaking in an interview with our correspondent, a lawyer to some of the girls, Mrs. Fransica Odoemena, argued that quite a number of the girls were innocent as they were picked up on the roads while on legitimate activities.
She blamed the police for the indiscriminate arrest, especially when some of the girls could identify themselves.
One of the accused, Miss Abosede Ekpeyong, a student of the Faculty of Arts, University of Lagos, told our correspondent that she was picked up while trying to board an okada to Iyana Ipaja on Wednesday.
She presented her university identity card and that of the faculty to our correspondent.
She said, "These cards could not even convince the police that I am not a prostitute. They arrested me and told me to enter into a waiting bus in which many girls were already seated."
Two of the accused who claimed to be twins, Miss Rose and Queen Ekpenyong said they were coming from Abia to Lagos and that they were picked up by the Police at Ikeja under the Ikeja flyover.
The Police Prosecutor, Sergeant Chris Takim, declined to comment on the circumstances under which the accused were arrested.
He said, "When the trial starts you will know everything you want to know."
Majority of the girls could not however perfect their condition for bail and they were made to board five buses in which they were brought to court, preparatory to being taken to the Kirikiri Prisons.
The matter was adjourned till August 24, 2007.