For N30,000, married women, girls engage in ‘immoral act’ in Jos
Videos
showing young girls and married women engaging in sexual acts have
rocked Jos, the Plateau State capital. The videos, which were leaked on
the internet, have been in circulation across the state for some days.
Daily
Trust gathered that following the release and outrage which trailed the
videos, one of the women involved committed suicide. The videos
involved different girls and women being filmed by a cameraman and a
producer/director who initially interviewed them, before stripping them
naked and having carnal knowledge of them on camera.
Upon
hearing of the videos, our correspondent began digging and gathered that
the girls/women were paid N30,000, to be filmed while engaging in the
act with a promise to be paid another N100,000 later.
A man
simply referred to as Emeka, who lives at the Rayfield area of Jos is
said to be behind the videos. It was gathered that he takes the
girls/women to a hotel in the same Rayfield to shoot the videos. Emeka,
it was gathered has female agents, most of whom he has shot the sex
videos with. He pays each agent N10,000 for anyone they introduce to
him, Daily Trust gathered.
It was further learnt that the act
has been going on for over three years and that he promised them the
videos would not be marketed in Jos/Plateau State or even in the nation,
but abroad. But as soon as the videos popped up on a particular website
and people began downloading them in Jos, pandemonium broke as many
married women and young girls involved were identified.
Upon
circulation of the videos, it was gathered that some of those involved
could no longer stay in their communities due to stigmatization and
other fears. Though the videos were later taken down, the damage had
already been done..
Efforts are now being made to rehabilitate
some of the women in the videos. Pastor of the Latter house Christian
Centre in Jos, Jemimah Mbaya, who has met with some of the girls to
counsel them, confirmed in a video on her Facebook page that one of the
girls actually committed suicide. Though she frowned upon women selling
themselves for money, she called on the society not to be hostile to
those in the video, but should show them love.
Pastor Mbaya said
she would initiate some kind of assistance for the girls, stressing
that young women with needs should approach religious centres for help
rather than engage in immoral acts.
Meanwhile, our correspondent
also tracked two of the women, who spoke to him in confidence. One of
them, who confirmed the death of their colleague, said a woman
approached her friend at a relaxation joint, and told her that they were
looking for women with certain physical attributes to feature in a
movie that ‘‘pays well’’.
She said her friend agreed and also
invited her to come along. The source said she went with her friend and
was also considered. “As soon as we got to the house, Emeka told us that
it was their family house and that everything would take place in a
hotel. We first went to one hotel in Rayfield, but they did not
negotiate well and then we went to another. As soon as we entered he
said we should wait for the cameraman. When the cameraman came, he gave
my friend N30,000 and gave me the same amount as well.
“The
woman who brought us was also given N20,000 for bringing both of us. I
waited with the woman who brought us in the bedroom while my friend was
doing the video with Emeka in the parlour before it got to my turn.
Thereafter we all slept in the hotel because it was in the night, and in
the morning, everyone dispersed,” she said. She said the incident took
place over a year ago, adding that Emeka promised to give them N100,000
yearly, and also urged them to bring other girls in order to get N10,000
commission for each. She said since the video was released, she has
been having issues with her family members, and that her boyfriend has
been avoiding her.
The second woman who interacted with our
correspondent said hers was about three years ago. She explained that
she had a serious financial need and had to solve the problem, which was
why she engaged in the act. She said she was assured that the video
would not be marketed in the country before she accepted to do it. The
woman added that when the video came out, she went to Emeka’s place with
her friend to ask why he reneged on his promise not to release it in
the country, but that he refused to come out of his room. She said many
married women were involved in the act, as well as teenage girls across
the city. When contacted, the state’s Police Public Relations Officer,
Tyopev Terna, said they heard rumour of such incident but that no one
had come forward to make an official report. He urged those involved not
to be ashamed or afraid but should make an official report or talk to
him in confidence so that they can investigate and bring the perpetrator
(s) to book.
Also speaking, the Chairperson of International
Federation of Female Lawyers (FIDA) Plateau State chapter, Mary Abah
Izam, said the act was unacceptable, ‘‘a crime against woman dignity and
right, as well as an offence against the nation.’’ Izam said the
unfortunate incident was also demonic and that it was an evil act
orchestrated to tarnish the image of the state which is known for high
morality. She said they will do all they can to make sure that the
perpetrator is brought to book and the cartel or syndicate smashed..
She
called on the girls/women to look for something tangible through which
they can make an honest living instead of engaging in immoral acts.
Commenting on the incident also, the Programme Manager for Country Women
Association of Nigeria (COWAN) Plateau State branch, Abigail Ishaya,
said the incident is devastating and blamed it partly on the home front
and poor parental monitoring of their children. The state Commissioner
of Information, Dan Manjang, said proper investigation would be
conducted into the matter, saying that such acts are strange to the
government and people of the state. He said a full-fledged investigation
would be carried out and all those found culpable would be brought to
book, advising that ladies should be careful in engaging in such act as
the full wrath of the law would be brought to bear no matter who is
involved. He said no one should go to such extent to earn a living as
the government has many empowerment programmes for them, should they
make themselves available.
The Commissioner named some of those
programmes as; the Plateau State Micro Finance Development Agency,
(PLASMIDA), Social Investment programme (SIP) and the N-Power programme.