By Simon Ateba, Kazeem Ugbodaga & Paul Sanusi

Following the expose of the nefarious activities at Lagos nude clubs, where young ladies dance stark naked and practice live sex on stage to entertain their patrons, the state government has wielded the big stick by shutting them down.

The Lagos State Environmental and Special Offences Monitoring Unit which raided the four strip clubs on the Opebi-Allen axis of Ikeja also arrested 33 naked dancers and two of the clubs’ managers.

The four nude clubs are Club Unique, Wallstreet, Cazzbah and Magic City formerly known as Ocean Blue.

Club Unique is on Ogundana Street off Allen Avenue while Wallstreet is located at 70B Allen Avenue. Magic City, formerly called Ocean Blue, is located adjacent to Sweet Sensation Bus Stop and Cazzbah is adjacent to Opebi Bus Stop.
•Some of the strip dancers arrested during the raid.

P.M.News gathered that before the raids on the clubs were carried out, some task force officials had visited the clubs disguised as patrons. They monitored the clubs’activities for a night before raiding them in the wee hours of the following day.

Chairman, Lagos State Environmental Taskforce, Mr. Bayo Sulaiman, told P.M.News that the state government shut the clubs as a result of public outcry over their existence.

Sulaiman added that most of the clubs had become hideouts for criminals and undesirable elements.

He stressed that the strip clubs were not registered and were not regulated.

Immediately the report over the activities of the nude clubs was published, the Archbishop of Lagos State, Anthony Cardinal Okogie, lamented that evil has completely taken over Lagos and called on Governor Babatunde Fashola to act immediately to arrest the trend by shutting them down.

“Evil has taken over in Lagos State. The way things are going, when girls of between the ages of 15 and 25 dance nude and throw caution to the wind with boys and men watching them, then they are sending a wrong signal to the society. It portends danger. We are sitting on a loaded gun,” said Okogie, in a statement signed by the Director of Social Communications, Lagos State, Reverend Gabriel Osu.

Okogie called on Fashola to act now because the strip clubs are on the increase, while those shut earlier had re-opened with impunity and with a change of name.

“I hope this is not making mockery of Lagos as mega-city, Centre of Excellence and City of Aquatic Splendour,” he said.

While some Lagosians called on the state government not to shut the strip clubs but simply regulate them as adult fun exists in all mega cities, most people kicked against their existence and simply called on Governor Fashola to close them down.

P.M.News learnt that the arrest of strip dancers was dramatic as they did not expect the taskforce visit them in the night.

A 24-year Ghanaian lady,Traore Anida, who was among the strippers arrested during the busting of the club, said she started the job a month ago because she was desperately in need of fund to go back to her country.

She said that she was brought to Nigeria by a woman whom she said is based in the Republic of Benin.

“I need money to go back to my country and there is no other work I can do to get the money fast. That is why I joined the job,” Anida stated.

Emma Ofor, manager of Club Unique who was arrested along with the 33 strippers, said that he joined the club in January this year, adding that poverty made him to accept the offer. Offor said that he could not reject the offer as he was in desperate need of a job.

“That is the circumstance I found myself and it is because of my situation. I was desperately in need of job when the offer came and I just had to accept it.”

Goddy Benjamin, manager of Wall Street Club who was also arrested along with the strippers denied that ladies go naked in the clubs to entertain patrons.

However, P.M.News was there several times, when young girls danced stark naked to entertain guests at Wallstreet.

Benjamin stated that the activities at the club are regulated and the club obtained licence from local government for its operation.

“Ladies in my club do not go naked. They do not dance naked. They always cover their body, they are just like other models and nobody harasses them. My ladies do not dance naked,” Benjamin claimed. However, P.M.News can confirm that the statement is inaccurate.

The Task Force Chairman has called on the general public to supply the outfit with more information on where strip clubs operate.

“We want more information from members of the public of the location of more of such club houses, where such activities are taking place.

“They should send us a message through +2348073238388,” he said.

Source Here

By Abdulwahab Abdulah, Evelyn Usman and Ifeanyi Okolie
The Lagos State Government has shut four strip night clubs on Opebi/Allen area of Ikeja, Lagos, arresting 33 strip dancers in the process.

The ladies have however been released on bail according to Chairman, Task Force on Environmental and Spacial Offences Monitoring Unit, Mr Bayo Suleiman, whose office effected the raid and arrest. He said they have been charged to court.

Justifying his office’s action of arresting the ladies, Suleiman, a Superintendent of Police (SP) said the strip clubs were unregistered and unregulated. Aside that, he added that it constituted a social nuisance in the state, adding that the arrest was also necessitated following public outcry.

On whether it was the right of the Task Force to effect such arrest, he asked, “ who is supposed to carry out such action? Is it the regular police or any other government security agency? As our name implies, Task Force on Environmental and Special Offences, this is part of the special offences and it behoves on us to sanitise the state”, adding that hoodlums also use the clubs as haven for perpetrating their nefarious activities.

Officials of the task force, as gathered, visited the clubs which are all located on Allen Avenue, Ikeja disguising as fun seekers, last Friday. Next day, while the ladies were entertaining their patrons, the officials went into action, arresting a total of 33 of them in their nude, from the affected clubs.

Two managers were also arrested. The affected clubs include-Club Unique, formerly known as Number 10 Bar, Wall street , Cazzbah and Magic City, formerly known as Ocean Blue.

It could be recalled that Club Unique located on Ogundana street off Allen Avenue was shut last year on the orders of the state government. The clamp down on the club which was raided by officials of the Lagos State Environmental Offences and Enforcement Unit, resulted, after matters reportedly assumed a dirty dimension during a raunchy performance by the stark naked ladies.

When contacted, the Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr Frank Mba claimed he was oblivious of the arrest.
Meanwhile human rights lawyers and the Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, Cardinal Olubunmi Okogie have reacted to the action of the ladies and their arrest by the security operatives. They all described the action as public immorality.

According to Bamidele Aturu and Wahab Shitu, the ladies’ action parading nude in the clubs “constitute societal nuisance and public corruption.”

Mr Aturu, a lawyer and social crusader said, “under the criminal procedure laws, the police have an unfettered rights to arrest the ladies, if their actions and attitudes constituted public disturbance which can lead to public disorder and disaffection. If their dressing, action or inaction can lead to public crisis or translate into public immorality, the police can effect their arrest.

“However, they (the ladeis) also have rights to implement their fundamental human rights to fair hearing against any offences preferred against them by the authiority.”

Another lawyer, Mr Wahab Shitu, who also is a university Don, said; “ What the ladies did was as a result of the society problems. They were guilty of an offence by committing public corruption under the law, especially when their action constitutes public immorality and nuisance.

“Corruption in Latin words means a breakdown of a system. If there is a breakdown in the system as a result of their action, they have committed an offence. So, by their action they are guilty of social corruption, since the law enforcement agents found out that their action constitutes a breakdown in the system, a break down of moral, social and societal values. Their action symbolizes the break down in the moral and societal values.

“The most important thing now is whether the action constitute criminality under the law or an offence punishable is another issue entirely.”

The Achbishop in his view expressed grave concern about the night clubs activities in Lagos state. He stressed that young girls stripped themselves naked for men to watch or have sex with them on stage for a fee of between N15,000 and N20,000.

The Cardinal who made a comment on the issue at a dedication ceremony of the St Augustine’s Catholic Church, Iba called on the Lagos State Government to take urgent steps in riding the state off the menace that is undermining the lives of young girls and women in the state.

According to the Cardinal: “The human body is the temple of God and if anybody wants to destroy the temple of God, God will destroy him because the temple of God is sacred and you are the temple of God.

“Look at our youths today, our children, nudity is their style. There was a time the Lagos State Government closed one club down, now it has reopened with a new name.

“They are charging between N10,000 and N20,000 just because of unclothedness. The ages of the ladies parading themselves there range from 18 to 25 years. And you have these stupid men who call themselves fathers of their families going there to sleep with them, destroying them the more.”


http://www.vanguardngr.com/2009/11/07/lagos-arrests-33-strip-dancers/comment-page-3/

Lagos is the new Las vegas, the Government should get with it lol.

Is clubbing dancers 2day, 2morrow will be arresting of street beggars.

Nigerian law enforcement should be disbanded.How can they treat young women like heartless criminals just for striping?when they the police,the government as a whole are the ruthless and shameless criminals in reality.

that's some thing cant they leave ppl to enjoy them self
i wonder who and who dey go patronize em ,no be that same people wey de harras them.

Some thing need to be done to change the trends.