Prostitutes defy Ebola in Port Harcourt.

“Something must kill a man,” is a phrase commonly used by people addicted to substances, behaviours and dangerous lifestyles, as a form of defence or bravado; but it does not take away the fact that they are on the path of self-destruction.
They usually say this to justify their irredeemable habits such as smoking, illicit sex, alcoholism or other activities that are potentially deadly. The bottom line is that there is risk in every human endeavour.
For instance, in spite of the grave danger it poses to human life, the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD), which the World Health Organisation (WHO) has described as a global health emergency, having claimed over 1,000 lives in a few months in West Africa, with Nigeria recording about five casualties, there are some people who do not give a hoot. For them, life goes on like always.
According to WHO, Ebola is a deadly, contagious disease that could be transmitted through body contact with an infected person through fluids and secretions, such as blood, sweat, saliva and semen.
In a bid to limit the spread of the disease, knowing the implications of contacting it through sex, Minister of Health, Onyebuchi Chukwu, had warned that people should abstain from casual sex until the EVD outbreak is put under control.
There are still some people who would not let anything disrupt their business: there are bills to pay, mouths to feed and the Joneses to keep up with. So, even as fear gripped most Nigerians on the news that Ebola had spread to Port Harcourt, Rivers State, prostitution was booming and call girls went about their trade of “making men happy unperturbed.”
Saturday Independent visited some red light spots in the Garden City, to have a feel of how much the fear of Ebola had affected the oldest profession, and the result was rather unnerving.
In one of the spots on Azikiwe Street, a short distance from the back gate of the Rivers State University of Science and Technology (RSUST), it looked like a nudist convention, a bikini pageant or the set of a pornographic movie. All around the building, there were young women between 18 and 35, clad in skimpy clothes that did more to expose their physical assets than cover them.
Each girl had a room, which was only big enough to contain a six-spring bed for her conjugal business. The expansive building contained about 50 partitioned rooms. In the building there was also a beer spot, where some young men were already getting drunk, while a few girls took smaller bottles of spirits and other hot drinks.
Caroline, 32, from Enugu State, has been in the “lodge” for two years. For her to start negotiations, one had to buy a bottle of drink for her. That was the standard operating procedure. After getting the drink, she opened the conversation with her client, who is this case is Saturday Independent reporter: “Let us go inside my room and talk.”
The client replied her, “No, let me know your price before we go in. More so, I don’t enjoy it if I use any protection like condom. I am sure you will permit me to do it skin-to-skin.”
“I want to play movie (pornography) for you as we discuss. Then I will roll on your manhood to turn you on. Don’t bother to love me. You can still be in love with the woman of your life, if you want. I promise I will s**k you because you are a clean man, different from all these small, small boys, she said ”
“Are you aware that there is Ebola disease in town, the client adked her.
“We don hear am o. Ebola no go catch me. My business still dey giripa. Even today sef, plenty customers don come go. I no believe say Ebola dey o. Even if e dey, I jump pass am,” she said.
The story was the same at another hot spot along the popular Peter Odili Road. Here, Princess (not her real name), aged 22, from Imo State, was a star. She was an innocent-looking damsel, dark-complexioned, plump and seductive.
To start discussions with her, her choice drink was Smirnoff Ice.
“What does it take to take you to a hotel for a night out? How much would you charge me for one night?” we asked her.
“We don’t need to discuss that in this open court. Can’t we go into my room? The amount is not a problem. We can settle that inside my room. We are not allowed to talk about that here because it will distract others”, she replied.
“Well, I want to take you to a hotel; will you follow me and how much will it cost me to sleep with you all night in a hotel in town?” Saturday Independent asked.
“I will take N12,000 and if you don’t use condom, I will take N15,000 from you.”
“It is okay by me, I will give you the money and do it without a condom. But are you not scared of the Ebola virus that is spreading so fast in town and is killing so quickly? You can contact it through sex and by body contact with the patient.”
“I hear am, but wetin person go do! People must survive. Ebola or no Ebola, people must eat and I can’t continue to depend on my parents, at this age. As I dey here, na me dey take care of two of my younger ones. I send money to them through this business. I am not afraid of any Ebola disease o. I am a child of God.”
Apparently, the Ebola Virus Disease, despite its deadly, virulent nature, is yet to be appreciated by call girls in Port Harcourt. This could pose a threat to the state and federal governments’ efforts to contain the killer disease.
Before the outbreak of EVD, prostitutes charged between N3,000 and N5,000 to sleep with a client outside their lodge. And to have a quickie a patron paid N1,000 for one hour. But that has changed now. With the outbreak of the disease the rate has gone up. A “quick take” is now N3,000 with condom and N5,000 unprotected. To take a prostitute for an all-night session, the charges now range between N15,000 and N20,000, without condom.
This presupposes that, for the fight against EVD to be effective, attention must be turned to brothels and prostitution.  In the course of this investigation, it was discovered that, oftentimes, the police would raid such prostitution spots, particularly in the densely populated area of Diobu, a sprawling area of Port Harcourt city, and conduct mass arrest of the prostitutes and the operators of such spots. However, after paying bribe they are set free, and business continues.
For Hon. Austin Young, chairman of the Police Community Relations Committee, Rivers State, a sterner approach should be adopted. He said, “All brothels should be shut down for a while. And all the prostitutes should be encouraged to go back to their homes.
“Those who are seen still hanging around in the streets should be arrested and in doing so, the policemen must be well kitted, to avoid direct contact. Each of the hotels in the state should have a mobile thermometer where every visitor must be adequately tested.”
DAILY INDEPENDENT.