She was promised a lucrative business in Accra, but on arrival in Ghana, she had her dream shuttered after being introduced to prostitution.
That was the exploitative story of a 17-year-old Fatima, Nigerian national who was lured into Ghana by her colleague.
It was a sunny mid-morning at Lucifer Kingdom, a coded location for prostitutes along the rail line at Kwame Nkrumah Interchange in Accra.
17-year-old Fatima, has been plying her sex trade there for the past four years. This was after she claimed to have been trafficked to Ghana by her close confidant.
Upon reaching Ghana, her friend handed her over to a woman believed to be the leader of a syndicate, who introduced her to prostitution.
At the tender age of 13, Fatima was caged, and her cell phone taken from her. She was also asked to pay five thousand cedis to her “madam” with proceeds from the sex work over a specified period.
In October last year, she eventually gained her liberty after paying the required amount to her “madam,” but she had nowhere to go, so she ended up at Lucifer Kingdom at the Kwame Nkrumah circle in Accra.
3news’ Stanley Nii Blewu met Fatima at a time when she was smoking marijuana profusely to knock herself off her misery.
I took time to engage her after buying her food when she complained of hunger. At a secluded place inside the rail station at Circle, she found solace.
While at Lucifer Kingdom, her survival depends on the number of men she sleeps with.
In a day, she claimed to sleep with 10 men, but she admitted this comes with a host of challenges.
According to her, she resorts to smoking marijuana before engaging in the sexual act with her clients, because men who usually patronize their services use drugs which enables them last longer.
“With marijuana, I feel less stress”, she said.
Meanwhile, her relatives in Nigeria are not aware that she is in Ghana and engaging in prostitution.
Fatima said a lot more teenage girls are trafficked from Nigeria daily to Nungua, a place she labeled as prostitution headquarters.
Girls who are trafficked often have their education and freedom destroyed while subjected to exploitative labour. There is no holiday for these girls.
Fatima wishes to quit prostitution, but the urge to survive on the streets of Accra further pushes her deeper into the commercial sex trade.
Commercial sex work is touted as the oldest profession in the world. In Ghana, data on sex workers is readily unavailable, but the industry remains vibrant, compelling cartels to traffic and exploit young girls.
By Stanley Nii Blewu
