The area, popularly associated with nightlife and illicit activities, has remained a major attraction for commercial sex workers, petty traders and operators of drinking spots.
The Edo State Migration Agency, in collaboration with other security agencies, has carried out several raids on suspected black spots across parts of Benin City, including Ihama Street, as part of efforts to tackle human trafficking, prostitution and other criminal activities.
However, a visit by LEADERSHIP to the area showed that business activities continue late into the night, with hotels, brothels, eateries, restaurants and roadside drinking spots operating alongside traders selling local gin and cigarettes.
Commercial sex workers, dressed in skimpy outfits, were also seen standing along both sides of the road, apparently waiting for prospective customers.
A petty trader who sells local gin and cigarettes, popularly known in the area as Madam OG, said she had been operating in Ihama for more than 15 years, insisting that repeated raids, arrests and clampdowns had done little to change the situation.
According to her, commercial activities in the area have remained strong despite government efforts to rid the neighbourhood of prostitution and other suspected illegal activities.
She alleged that some of the officials and security operatives involved in the raids later returned to patronise the same sex workers they were supposed to apprehend.
Madam ‘OG’ argued that poverty, unemployment and the responsibility of caring for children and other dependants had driven some women into commercial sex work, adding that repeated arrests without addressing the underlying economic challenges would not resolve the problem.
“You can see that there is nothing any government can really do about it. There is hunger and poverty in the country. These prostitutes you see here have children and responsibilities to cater for, and this is the only way they can hustle for their livelihood,” she said.
She further claimed that some customers arrived in tinted vehicles with covered number plates to patronise the sex workers under the cover of darkness.
The trader urged the government to consider alternative approaches to managing the activities in the area, rather than relying solely on periodic raids and arrests.
She suggested that the government should explore a regulatory approach, arguing that repeated enforcement operations had failed to produce lasting results.
However, the director-general of the Edo State Migration Agency, Lucky Agazuma, offered a different perspective on the activities in the area.
Agazuma, whose agency has participated in several raids, arrests and prosecutions, insisted that some of the individuals regarded as commercial sex workers were allegedly involved in drug dealing.
He said the agency had intensified efforts to tackle suspected criminal activities, including the arrest of dozens of individuals described as sex workers and suspected human traffickers.
According to him, some of those arrested were allegedly from other states, including Delta, Benue and Abia insisting that the government is doing everything to rid the state of commercial sex workers.
