The Supple Side Of Isaac John

The Supple Side Of Isaac John
Isaac John Street, the main business hub of the Government Reserved Area, Ikeja, Lagos hugs the new title of the city’s leading red light district
It was about 7:30 on a recent Wednesday evening at the popular hangout, Metro Park Club, on the busy Isaac John Street, Ikeja GRA, Lagos. Lined up along the wrought-iron fence of the club was a motley crowd of young, scantily-clad scarlet ladies patiently waiting for patrons. One of them was leaning on a grey Toyota salon car parked, perhaps, by one of the funseekers at the club. She was rummaging through her beaded bag searching for God knows what. Another frenetically scanned exotic vehicles passing by. A seemingly lucky one, in a skimpy woolen dress, ambled up to a plump, middle-aged man in a BMW sport utility vehicle who had pulled over near the club’s entrance. After some minutes of talk, she hopped into the automobile, which zoomed off in the direction of the adjoining Oduduwa Crescent. As the minutes went by, many of the other girls were picked up, one after another, by men in cars, after striking deals acceptable to them.
About an hour later, a similar scenario was playing out at the nearby Rodizzo Lounge. A slew of heavily made-up girls, of all shapes and sizes, had pitched their tent under a fruit tree adjacent to the lounge. Others could be seen changing into their ‘work clothes’ under nearby trees or in front of security posts of companies that had closed for business that day. Some of the girls were soliciting clients, who sat behind the wheels of different brands of vehicles. It was apparent both prospective customers and flesh merchants were negotiating deals each would deem favourable. Welcome to Isaac John Street after office hours.
In recent years, Isaac John has witnessed a surge in the number of hotels, night clubs, lounges and eateries situated on the street; replacing the quietness and solitude for which it was once renowned with a cacophony occasioned by bustling commercial, hedonistic activities. “The coming of all these clubs in the last six to seven years has changed night life here. Before, the number of sex hawkers who plied their trade on this street was minimal as you could only see them around Adebola Shopping Mall and the eateries opposite it. But now, you have all of them (girls) lined up to the extreme end of the street,” said Dayo, a resident of Ajisafe Street, off Isaac John.
He said with the coming of clubs like The Place and Sandra’s Bar (now Bar Continental), more girls are drawn to the street. “Sandra’s Bar was what you could call a juke joint where guys congregated to let off steam. You got whatever you sought there. If you wanted to dance or just sit around and observe wild, interesting things, you would get it at the bar. And if you were coming to pick up women, they were available. The place was very popular, but also had a bit of a not too pleasant reputation,” said the young man, who confessed that he had no problem with the transformation of the street.
The brazenness with which the ladies solicit clients, despite various steps taken by government and its agencies, gives the impression that prostitution is legalised there. And the trend continues to thrive on the street that houses Lagos State Government House Annex, Protea Hotel, Reddington Hospital, banks, shopping malls and some palatial residences of super rich businessmen. Efforts by the police to get these ladies off the street, through carrying out raids and arresting them at regular intervals, have not had any impact. Rather, the sex workers are increasing daily.
Late last year, officials of the Lagos State Environmental and Special Offences Enforcement Unit, Alausa, Ikeja, raided some spots in the state and arrested 44 suspected commercial sex workers. The bulk of the girls were picked at Isaac John Street.
Bayo Sulaiman, Chairman of the state Task Force, said the suspects were arrested following public complaints about their activities and the nuisance they constituted to the environment. Many were charged to court and released on bail. And that was where it ended as unconfirmed reports suggested that owners of clubs and bars on the street intervened by ‘settling’ the authorities. This might, indeed, be the case as some days later, it was business as usual.
And business is really thriving for commercial sex workers there. With short and overnight services provided to willing customers, investigations revealed that charges for short-time service, depending on the client’s bargaining prowess, range from N3,000 to N10,000. And the quick romp can be had in any of the numerous guest houses dotting almost every street of the GRA, or, for the daring ones, inside their vehicles. But for all-night service, the client is expected to pay between N5,000 and N20,000. This is exclusive of foods and drinks he may buy. Major patrons of these ladies of the night are middle class, upwardly mobile revelers that include bankers, expatriate oil workers, government officials, military and police officers, journalists and businessmen.
Apart from weekends when night life throbs in Lagos, there seems to be an agreement among clubs in the area declaring Wednesday as Ladies’ Night. This has proved to be an effective marketing strategy as Wednesdays are particularly exciting, with an unusually high presence of girls in the vicinity. But the influx comes with its own hazards. Despite Isaac John Street being just a few minutes drive from the Lagos State Police Command Headquarters, the area is not devoid of violence and theft. Demola Adeoye, a sales manager with a bottling company in Lagos who is a regular patron of one of the top clubs on the street narrated his nasty experience to TheNEWS. “Recently, I had a really sad experience. I was in this club on Isaac John to have some fun with my girl and I parked my car on the road as directed by one of the security guys hired by the club. When I was to leave for home much later, I entered my car only to realise that it had been broken into. It was my girlfriend that first noticed that her handbag was gone. That was when I checked for my laptop and discovered that it had been stolen along with my shoes and some cash,” Adeoye recalled.
He explained that while he was partying inside the club, thieves broke the small glass vent at the back seat through which they made away with valuables inside the car. Other cars parked along the street were also vandalised that night. Adeoye said what hurt him most was the presence of a police van parked in front of a hotel on the street, but the officers around seemed to be more bothered with catching some fun.
Environmentalists have also expressed concerns on the changes that are taking place in the area. Kunle Awobodu, a builder and National Publicity Secretary, Nigeria Institute of Building, NIOB, said that unlike the GRA of yesteryear, where trees and vegetation dominated the landscape, and peace and quiet reigned, today it is “replete with gigantic structures, noise, heavy traffic, an ever growing population, with infrastructure under stress”.
“Government should drive development into the hinterland and create satellite towns to discourage the pressure put on Ikeja GRA and other areas in the city centre,” Awobodu advised. But is anybody listening?