The Federal Government of Nigeria has warned randy men and hoteliers not to lodge teenagers and underage girls in their hotels or risk being sanctioned.
The Minister of Women Affairs, Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye, stated this at the ‘Unlock Training and Grants’ ceremony in Abuja during the week.
The programme, organised by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Technical, Vocational and Entrepreneurship Education, Abiola Arogundade, had 200 young entrepreneurs receive N100m.
The warning followed reports of students sleeping around in hotels and having sexual activities.
In January 2023, it was reported that some students of a secondary school in Lagos absconded from school and lodged their female classmates in hotels for sexual romps.
The PUNCH had reported that the students, between the ages of 14 and 17, had on different occasions jumped over the school’s fence with their female counterparts and stayed out of school for days.
Also, in April 2022, a video clip of a 15-year-old boy who was accosted while trying to lodge two girls and another guy in a hotel room went viral on social media.
However, Kennedy-Ohanenye stated that hoteliers, especially in the Federal Capital Territory, had been directed to mount a signpost outside their hotels warning prospective clients not to lodge any underage girls in their premises.
She also revealed that the riot act had been read to proprietors of schools across the country, warning them to ensure that no student was bullied by either teachers or students.
The minister said, “Nigeria must be better. From June 20, we have directed hotels to put a ‘No lodging of underage girls’ sign outside.
“No more lodging of underage girls, and no more bullying in schools.”
She added that the government had commenced a probe into the viral clip of 10 Nigerian teenagers rescued from Ghana, where they were trafficked for prostitution, promising that decisive action would be taken on the matter soon.
Three of the victims, aged between 15 and 16, were said to be from the same parents, and were reportedly beaten, molested and forced into prostitution without pay.
