Residents Protest Situation of Brothel Beside Secondary School:
The brothel and the school.
Residents of Daranijo Close at Dopemu, Lagos State, have protested against the siting of a brothel beside a secondary school on the street.
The brothel, which is said to be disguised as a relaxation spot, was said to have begun business about two months ago.
A resident told PUNCH Metro on condition of anonymity that the community was concerned about the characters of the people that visited the brothel and their impact on the pupils and security.
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He said, “Many of us have complained to the landowner that it was not right for her to sell the land for school and also lease out the building beside the school for a brothel.
“Our complaints have gone unheeded. Music is played at all hours at the brothel. Men go in and come out at all hours. It is a bad influence, especially on the female students of the school, who have to go past the brothel everyday on their way to and from school.
“There are people resident in that building and they smoke and do all sorts there. No one has made a formal complaint to the ministry of education or the police because we are all afraid of reprisals. In recent times, we have experienced increased robbery attacks.
“The woman who sold land to the school is the same person who rented out the building beside it to a brothel. We have appealed to her to call her tenants to order, but she has done nothing.”
A member of the community development association executive told PUNCH Metro on the condition of anonymity that the brothel was a bad influence on young children in the community.
She said some of the members had met with the manager of the brothel many times to stop activities on the premises.
She said, “Once it is 6.30pm, you will see all manner of men at the place and on the street, smoking hemp. As from 4pm, all the prostitutes come out of the brothel and on the road, advertising their wares; they are always skimpily dressed.
“I used to let my children out of the house to play around the close, but since the brothel began its business, I have stopped that. We no longer sleep at night because the loud volume of their music and the kinds of people who frequent here give us cause for concern.”
When PUNCH Metro visited the community, loud music could be heard from the relaxation spot. The small bungalow in the expansive compound had two canopies in front, where a group of intoxicated young men and some girls sat drinking.
Next door, some pupils of Status Secondary School were writing their Senior School Certificate Examination.
The principal of the school, who declined to mention his name, said, “We can’t do anything about their activities. They are our neighbours. They know this is a school. If they play their music too loud during school hours, we just walk over there and ask them to reduce it. Apart from that, we have no business with them.”
The landlady, identified simply as Madam Amaka, claimed ignorance of her tenant’s activities.
She said, “I had no idea that my land was going to be converted to such use. This was not what my tenant told me. He just said they would be selling suya and barbecued fish. Since I found out that he had converted the place to other uses, I have asked my agent to send for him.
“I don’t live here, but I have my shop here, so I am also concerned. However, this place has always had security issues long before that brothel came into existence. We have always experienced attacks from robbers. No one has complained to me about the brothel. What everyone is concerned about is the security.”
The Lagos State Commissioner for Information, Mr. Lateef Ibirogba, who is the official spokesman of the government, could not be reached for comment as he did not picked calls made to his telephone. (Punch)
