Living behind Mass Park in Zuba, a satellite town in Abuja is Blessing Udeh, an indigene of Imo State. She could easily be described as 'your everyday type of woman'. There’s nothing in her gait or looks to suggest that she is in what many refer to as the oldest profession in the world.
Probably in her late 40’s, she’s a widow with three children who seemingly had a good life with her husband until fate played a cruel one on her by snatching him away.
Getting Udeh to talk took some effort as she fought severally to control her emotions. She stated: “My husband died and left no money for the family. So, I had to fend for myself by joining the business (prostitution) to keep body and soul together.”
According to her, she had a fairly good life, as a full time housewife, with her husband who was solely in charge of the family’s upkeep until he died.
The widow disclosed that it the devastating effect of the demolition exercise carried out by the former FCT minister, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai that claimed the life of her husband.
“The building my husband built in Karmo was demolished by El-Rufai. This affected my husband so much that he couldn’t rise up financially again after that. It was the effect of the demolition that affected him and he died eventually. After his death, my children and I were thrown into abject poverty. There was no where we could start from and nobody or even relations were willing to help us. It got so bad that my children who had dropped out from school, and I were begging daily for sustenance.”
The mother of three, who claimed to have embraced prostitution recently when all else failed, disclosed that life too in the fast lane is not as rosy as she thought.
She said that she makes between N500 and N2,000 a night which is meagre compared to the amount they pay for lodgings at the brothel.
“We pay N5, 400 for accommodation weekly and I have not even gotten enough to pay this week’s rent,” she said as at the time of conducting this interview.
The widow, Blessing Udeh, is however appealling to the federal government, well-meaning and wealthy Nigerians to come to her aid.
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