WOMEN HARASSMENT IN THE FCT;SAPCLN, SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT SECRETARIAT AND ABUJA EVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION BOARD

Dorothy Njemanze

Several people have several ways of putting their grievances before the public domain.

Dorothy Njemanze is an actress, activist and a social welfare crusader who fights for the abused in Abuja and other parts of the country. She is the founder of Dorothy Njemanze Foundation, which focuses on giving voice to the voiceless. At the end of this piece, the general question I am sure would be on the minds of many people today is; What parameters are used in measuring who a commercial sex worker is? Can one tell by just looking? Is it by what someone wears or where someone is seen at night?

I had a chat with Dorothy and she tried to tell me about her encounter with members of the

SOCIETY AGAINST PROSTITUTION AND CHILD LABOUR IN NIGERIA

SAPCLN and the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB). According to her, she had gone to see her brother at his residence when she was immediate grabbed by men of SAPCLN soon as she crossed the road towards her brother's house. Her ordeal was not good, as she said she was man-handled by these men who forced her into their bus and informed her that identification cards are not valid in the f.c.t. at night, after she said she had her Actors' guild ID Card, ATM and other forms of Identification. She claimed to have forwarded her grievances to the necessary authorities and that litigation will soon start against the body. Miss Njamanze has since been helping other women wrongfully arrested for prostitution by following up on their court cases. she showed me documents to prove that.

On the other hand, I had a chat with Mrs Grace Adogo coordinator, SAPLN, Joe Ukairo Head Information AEPB, Mr Walix the media spokesman of SAPLN and Mr Zakari the Head, Media and Publicity of  Social Development Secretariat and they apparently denied such was the cause of their mission. They also tried to explain that a review is on the way for some activities of male patronizers caught corking and the likes to be seen as a committing criminal offences. The use of force and abuses by their subjects seem quite unknown to them. They believe that it is important that the carrying capacity of the f.c.t. should be considered. 

They are however ready to work with any just cause to help commercial sex workers get reformed and have hammered on the need for Nigerians to know that such reformation was not in anyway a "by-force" activity.