Naira Scarcity: Lokoja Based Sex Workers Count Losses

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By Mohammed Yabagi.

For Maureen Adah, a sex worker in Lokoja, the Kogi State Capital, the curent currency crunch is a bad business for her and her colleagues, as they have become frustrated and can’t wait to see it end.

The same with Mariah Andrew and one of their colleagues who simply identified herself as Hannah.

The visibly angry Hannah recalled how a man spent a night with at a hotel near Phase II Area of Lokoja, only to tell her the next morning that he had no cash on him and that he would do transfer.

In her words, “Could you believe that the transfer turned to be fake? It was unfortunate for me not to have taken my ATM ATM Card with me that day. It was after I got back that I went to the POS operator only to be told there was insufficient funds in my account.

“It was so frustrating, but knowing the man was only a guest at the hotel, there was no way I could have gone back to look for him. That was why how the man went away with my sweat. But in the end, if not for the unfortunate policy, I am sure he would not have escaped with my money.”

On her part, Mariah said she had been duped twice by men as a result of the policy. “The first was a ‘short-term.’ The man just whipped out his phone and pretended to transfer the money. He said he could not withdraw money from the ATM points and that there was network problem, but showed me his phone and said he had made the transfer, but till today, I have not seen my money. Any day I see the man, I am going to collect my money.

“The second one was the issue of fake transfer. I even got an alert for that one, not knowing it was a scam alert. The man even used my place for the work. We were together from seven O’Clock in the evening, until 12 midnight and after ‘three rounds,’ only for him to do that to me.”

Others who spoke with our reporter said they no longer accept transfer and have made up their minds that any man that requires their services would have to get physical cash.

Others stated that a few of their colleagues have down tools after the harrowing experiences they have been through in the hands of unscrupulous customers until the cash situation in the country stabilizes.

Monica James sums it more succinctly by saying, “For now it is money for hand and back for ground. We have all learnt our lessons and we no longer want to allow any man to defraud us in the name of ‘no cash’.”


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