The
enclave of Ijora Badia in Apapa-Iganmu Local Council Development Area
(LCDA) of Lagos State is a constellation of absurdity. It is indeed a
melange of miscreants, roughnecks, gangsters, fraudsters and
prostitutes. It is an enclave situated along the railway line that runs
from Ijora to Iddo. The environment is filthy with euglena infested
brackish lagoon, which harbours dangerous reptiles and breeds mosquitoes
in millions. From Ijora bus-stop, a macadamized road that links the
bus-stop with Ijora Badia railway line community gives a wrong
impression of where it leads to.
- Hard drugs, alcohol daily diets
- Women display breasts 24/7
- Men gamble, watch x-rated movies all da
On
both sides of the link road are shops that display different wares
ranging from electronic equipment to clothes, shoes, bags, among other
articles of trade. But the end of the link road exposes one to the
railway line habitat, which bubbles with a plethora of indecent and
unspeakable activities. By the swampy side of the railway are clusters
of large wooden cabin suspended up to six feet atop the brackish lagoon.
There are several of such accommodation housing half-dressed, haggard,
dishevelled, fierce-looking women of all sizes, shapes and ages. In
fact, one could rightly say the cabins are brothels on the lagoon.
By
12 noon when this reporter visited the enclave, some of the women,
especially the older ones appear worn-out with bulging, sleepy, red
eyes, an indication that they must have had a busy night, perhaps also,
it’s an indication that business is booming. Even as they intermittently
shut their eyes and nod their heads involuntarily as they fight against
the sleep trying to envelope them, reliable sources swore they were
still ‘ready for action if a customer calls’. For the younger women,
most of whom appeared tattered and unkempt, they sat in clusters with
their navels on display, as well as their breasts shooting out like
balloons.
Although,
the sight of those riotous stretch-marked breasts may appear repulsive
to any reasonable man, the male folks in the community, who appeared
morally depraved and seemed no less better, found such commodity very
luscious, salacious and séxually
arousing. They also wore skimpy tight skirts and shorts that exposed
their thighs up to their pubic region, but like the breasts, such
exposures were also very repugnant. This is because instead of robust
and succulent thighs that would spark a riotous blood through the séxual
veins of any healthy man, who would be anxious to see what is hidden
beyond the thighs, what was exposed were coarse, rough, stretch-marked
and mosquito bite-infested thighs.
The
women in this breast terror, navel and thigh exposure business lined up
on the railway line. Both young and old women found breast-pumping the
new fad. From investigation, it appeared that any lady that failed to
expose her breast in very tempting manner could is seen as a deviant. It
is right to conclude that at Ijora Badia, breasts are on parade; there
is a breasts’ fair of a sort any time, any day and for any willing
viewer. While some displayed their wares in front of the make-shift
wooden houses, others step forward at the base of the rail to display
theirs while pretending to be recharge card sellers or phone call
vendors.
Investigation
revealed they have a ready and booming market in the male folk of the
community, who are mostly gamblers, drug addicts and fraudsters.
Fighting is not a novel occurrence in Ijora Badia neighbourhood. Checks
revealed that in Lagos State, the neighbourhood has the highest number
of brothels where deviant teenagers, who ran away from their parents’
homes, find solace. The constellation of these young ladies, who have
sold their souls to séx,
attracts criminals in the neighbourhood. They are belligerent, testy,
violent and can do anything, including stripping themselves nakéd to vent their anger.
This reporter witnessed what could have been a live adult movie when a teenager almost stripped herself nakéd.
She was having a fierce argument with a male folk beside one of the
wooden cabins, while two other boys and another lady encircled them. She
walked briskly away from them to the pavement of the rail line where
she sat. But the roughneck would not let her be. He followed her to that
point and the girl in readiness for what would follow picked up a big
stone. But, before she knew what was happening, the man grabbed her by
the waist, raising her feet above the ground. When she eventually freed
herself from the man’s grip, she quickly pulled off her T-shirt,
exposing her breasts as she did so, because she wasn’t wearing a bra.
The
breasts dangled dangerously and violently as she proceeded to unzip and
possibly remove her shorts, before the man left the scene. It didn’t
even bother her that at such a tender age her breasts had become flabby
and saggy. As soon as the man left, others prevailed on her to rescind
her action, which was to display her nakédness
in broad daylight. As the drama was unfolding, most people were not
even interested; they carried on as if nothing was happening. Further
checks revealed that similar incidents are commonplace in the
neighbourhood.
However,
the male folks are seen in clusters of 15 and 20, looking rough and
fierce, either drinking gin, smoking marijuana, playing ludo, whot cards
or draught games. They appeared so rough and fierce that one actually
must be very careful to stare at them. And because they engage in one
criminal activity or the other, they are always alert and know when a
stranger comes into the habitat. They are not like the women whose only
trade is to exchange their bodies for money with any willing man.
Men
who live among the women in make-shift wooden houses stay inside during
the day, except when they want to enter town, but the ones living
separate in their own wooden cabins wander around in company of teenage
girls. Ijora Badia is not only about prostitution, gambling, hard drugs
and alcohol consumption. There are football viewing centres scattered
all over the rail line, just as there are film houses in the place. Like
most European football viewing centres in Lagos, you see signposts
announcing which teams are playing. You also see viewers patiently
waiting for the kick-off time, but their composition also leaves much to
be desired.
They
looked every inch like those earlier seen smoking and drinking; a
confirmation that football is a unifying force. Just as normal,
reasonable people enjoy it, so also the hoodlums do. Investigation
revealed that at the cinema centres adult films (blue films) are freely
shown during the day, while volume of the speakers is raised so that
those outside can hear the moaning sounds from porn films.
This
reporter corroborated this finding when, on approaching one of the film
centres, a deep shrill, humming and moaning sound filled the air. Every
discerning ear would know that such sounds only come from a woman in
deep séxual
intercourse with a man. However, in the midst of all these, carpenters
were busy nailing woods together, while hairdressers and barbers were
equally busy twisting and creeping through their customers’ hairs. Food
vendors as well as beer palour operators were all in this neighbourhood
struggle to make ends meet.
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