Bauchi unveils plans for commercial sex workers

Bauchi, Nigeria’s northwestern state has announced plans to conduct a census of commercial sex workers, in order to plan adequately for them, TopNaija reports.

The state’s Permanent Commissioner in charge of Hisbah and Sharia implementation, Malam Aminu Balarabe-Isah, while speaking during a sensitisation workshop organised for commercial sex workers, made this known in Bauchi on Monday.

According to him, the information generated from the exercise would help the commission in taking measures aimed at discouraging them from continuing with their “dangerous trade”.

Isah disclosed plans by the state government to organise empowerment programmes for them, as well as provide them with capital to start small scale businesses.

He explained that investigations conducted by his agency indicated that most of the sex workers took to prostitution as a result of illiteracy, poverty or maltreatment meted on them by their step-mothers.

He said that minor family squabbles also contributed to their decision to take to prostitution, assuring that government would make efforts to re-unite them with their parents.

The commissioner expressed readiness of the state government to organise mass marriages for those of them who were lucky to get serious suitors.

Hafsatu Azare, who spoke on behalf of the sex workers, gave an assurance that they were willing to quit the trade if government could empower them economically.

Studies have shown that Sex workers are 12 times more likely to be living with HIV than the general population.