Blessing Bassey Okon from Etop, Akwa Ibom State was an innocent girl who was forced into prostitution at the age of 13, a time she was supposed to be under the care of her parents. Her father died immediately after her birth and thereafter, her mother remarried and left her with her mother- in-law who could neither feed her well nor train her due in school.
That therefore, created a loophole and made her feel rejected. At a point, she started to seek a better parental care. Her grandmother, who was taking care of her tried her best and was hoping to get a support one day.
Coincidentally, an offer came and it was that of a professional prostitute who disguised as a businesswoman. The woman who stays in Calabar and a relation traveled home and convinced Blessing’s grandmother that she needed someone to assist in the shop where she sells rice.
According to Blessing, the young lady gave her grandmother N4000 and took her to Calabar.
“When that Aunty came to my village to pick me, she deceived my grandmother that she had a big rice shop which she wanted me to manage. She gave my grandmother some money and the old woman asked me to go with her. In fact, I was very happy because I wanted to leave the village to an urban area, so I would have the opportunity to engage myself in one trade or the other, since there was no one to support me”, she stated.
Blessing also explained that on getting to Calabar, her madam, instead of taking her to the shop where she would manage, she was taken to a hotel room for prostitution.
“Unfortunately, it was when we got to Calabar that I understood that what I went to do was prostitution. She showed me a room and instructed me to ensure that I deliver enough money to her otherwise I would die of hunger. I felt bad and wondered what to do. After much thought, I remembered that I had no option than to obey her directive. So grudgingly, I started the job. I wanted to report to my mother and grand mother what I was going through, but due to lack of mobile phone, I could not. While doing the job, I used to deliver between N10, 000 and N20, 000 to my madam on daily basis. It was from the money that she feed me and pay for my room. Sad enough, I was not given any cash, even when I was the one who used my body to make the money”, she said.
As God would have it, Blessing managed to hide some money from what she made to buy a phone worth N2,000, so as to narrate her ordeal to her family members. She ended up being disappointed when she called and explained to her grandmother her condition but she encouraged her to go on.
“When I reported to my grandmother that the lady she gave me to later introduced me to prostitution business, she was not bothered, rather, she advised me to try to cope, in order to survive the hard times. From her statement, I understood that it was a planned work. She even later gave me one of my sisters to join me in the business.”
Like other prostitutes, Blessing was busy hustling for customers and making some money for her madam. But one day, some policemen stormed the hotel and arrested her for being in the business as an adolescent.
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