By PAMELA EBOH, Awka

The age-long practice of young ladies hawking their bodies for financial gains has, over time, transcended the era of living in a cluster of small ‘face-me-I-face-you’ rooms, only big enough to contain a six spring bed, bucket and few handy properties; sandwiched in a dirty environment, to an era of sophistication.

Though pockets of such practice may still be playing out in the rural settings, it is rather a far cry in the cities as these ladies have, over time, raised the ante. From dropping s*xy eye popping pictures with receptionists at big hotels popular for hosting wealthy men, to getting gigs through pimps or friends.

This analogue picture style, too, may also not be completely swept under the carpet. But a new attitude have started sweeping through the city of Awka with the advent of Yahoo Boys.

These class of boys are known to be high spenders, both in naira and dollars, at night clubs back-to-back, seven days a week. Their emergence on stage has totally rejigged the status quo.

To this end, call girls, as they are referenced, have become predators for the ‘flying monies’, not only in the moment of clubbing but also during birthday celebrations which are usually hosted in these clubs.

With so many up and running in Awka’s red light district popularly known as Abakaliki Street, some jobless class of girls in town, as well as students, mostly part-time students, have taken money picking in clubs as a nine-to-five yellow collar job.

This street at night is a beehive of wild girls on the loose. It also harbours drug sellers (SK, loud hemp, coke, etc) by the side.

The drug sellers notably operate in a mafia kind of way. To buy any kind of drug from them, you have to act street so you don’t appear suspicious. For instance, a visiting friend who wanted to prove my doubt took me to one of the spots. As we were driving along the bubbling street, he cited about four young boys in their early 20s hanging around a mini gate of a bar close to a makeshift stall that sells hot drinks in tots. He told me the boys were drug sellers which I disagreed, but to prove me wrong, he parked his car before the makeshift stall and immediately he stepped out of the car and went to the hot drinks seller to make enquiry, the body language of the boys who were standing two inches apart changed as they became suspicious and somewhat apprehensive. The man who was an ex-student of UNIZIK played a street guy with his approach and they relaxed. The one he approached claimed he was the security man for the bar, then the slim one standing next to him asked in low tone the kind of drug he wanted. Proving my doubt wrong, the boy dashed out and in three minutes, returned with a wrap of SK. Story for another day.

Back to the club girls: they come in different shapes and sizes, clad in very provocative outfits that could make a man’s eyes pop out of its socket. Some of the bootilicious girls come out in deafening mini-dresses, yet they keep pulling it down while walking or dancing except for the pole dancers. With caution thrown to the winds, they move in pairs of two, three, four or five and they are familiar with themselves. The one significant thing about them is, they all wear a small zip bag tied or hooked around their waists. The bag is where they put money made in the course of the night.

Following nights of investigation which came with less sleep, it was observed that actual clubbing starts at midnight, hence the rest of the time before the club door is opened, there will be some outside entertainment where some upcoming artists, dancers, comedians perform to thrill the clubbers as they pop alcohol and chat away among themselves. At this point, the cash throw boys are nowhere near the club. However, the cash throw depends on the class of club, the bigger the class of Yahoo Boys that patronize there, bearing in mind that they like and go for everything classy and expensive. Out of the four popular clubs in the area, Ibiza and Gaga are known to be the ‘IT’ spot for these young money spenders. Meanwhile, Ibiza which is the biggest classy club in the area appears to have the meanest bouncers as they do not allow shabbily dressed club girls or those without heels into the club. Another clause is that they don’t allow girls without partners into the club. To beat this barrier, the girls hang outside the club waiting for unaccompanied men coming to the club to latch on for easy pass. To them, getting into Ibiza for a night is always a worthy venture as that is where the biggest spenders, including visitors, club. The girls have also fashioned the act of getting acquainted with the muscle laden bouncers, especially the very tough ones. While some offer them cash from their regular proceeds, others tow the payment in kind method, but this is mostly as determined by the bouncer.

At midnight, the girls line up in front of the club where heavily built bouncers search them to ensure they don’t have any kind of weapons, except for those that came in company of a man.

Once inside the club, most of the heels go off flat sneakers while some jeep their shoes at a corner and go on all toes.

While the music is blaring and people rocking on the dance floor, the club hype man would be doing his beat, hailing people. Meanwhile, the s*xily-dressed ‘Dorime girls’ who carry expensive drinks around will be moving with drinks laced with sparkling lights to find buyers. Any group or man that buys the drinks that sometimes sells as much as a million naira and above becomes an attraction to the money hunters. They will immediately swim around his seat like bees, waiting for him to begin to show off. They often, in turn, use their girlfriends to begin the wad throw by putting her on the spot to do dance. The girls literally size the clubbers. Those buying the expensive drinks draw more attention to themselves as the girls move closer to monitor when money would be sprayed or thrown up for them to feast on. If it’s a birthday celebration, the concentration would be where the celebrant is. As he or she is being sprayed, these club girls swiftly land on the floor to pick the ones dropping on the floor. The hustle is swift and not for the faint-hearted, as only the swift and aggressive pick enough. The Yahoo Boys also intermittently throw some bundles ranging from hundred naira notes to one thousand notes into the crowd for the cash hunters to devour. As they pick, they put inside their waist bags.

However, the pit of this money picking business is that some of the girls have lost their lives in the process through poison from fellow club girls, some others have received serious beating for picking monies not meant to be picked, like during birthday events. But on the flip side, many of the girls have made monies enough to set up businesses.

According to one of them, she started her fashion slippers business with the monies picked from the club. She said she took it as a job, seven days a week with laser focus to make money off it, Mother lucky smiled on her, and, according to her, she was able to pick money any day she attends the club. Relieving her lucky days, she said: “There was one Saturday I came to the club with few friends, I was tired and sleepy, so I decided to climb to the section where big spenders usually stay. I went and occupied one empty couch by the side of the wall and lay down to sleep a bit. While lying there on my own, one of the Yahoo Boys threw a bundle of one thousand naira notes on me and said, ‘wake up; you are in the club’. I was startled from sleep and on opening my eyes I saw the bundle lying there before me, I immediately rushed and picked before other girls could notice. When I checked, it was one thousand notes, I couldn’t believe my eyes. In fact, that day, I didn’t hustle to pick money at all as God simply buttered my bread without any struggle or being pushed or stepped on. I just smiled at the guys and went back to sleep. That was a hundred thousand naira bundle and I used it to buy more goods in Onitsha to beef my shop. It was from this club hustle that I started my fashion bags and slippersbusiness.”

Another regular clubber popularly referred to as ‘V Boot’ because of her voluminous backside said she was drawn to the club business because she had no other means of survival. According to her, she lacks education and has two children to fend for after being abandoned by her husband. Though she lacks education, she has succeeded in drawing followership to her artificial nail fixing, nail polishing and fake eyelash fixing business from the club circle as the girls patronize her very well. Despite operating her business in a make-shift tarpaulin-made shop, her business is booming with daily income. Her words, “I have made enough money, so I’m no longer a regular at the clubs. I only attend once in a while to have fun, but that is not to say I won’t go for it when money is sprayed I’m the club. I will soon stop going to the club completely, I’m tired and many girls are beginning to come so it’s becoming more strenuous.”

Another clubber who was not allowed into the club because of her shabby dressing said she joined the fray about a month ago.

She said: “There’s money in the business only if you are sharp and able to bulldoze your way when the wads come falling down on the floor. I’m not bothered the thugs didn’t allow me because I have already picked about eight thousand naira from another club I went to with the people I came with before coming here. My interest is to open a salon as soon as I’m able to pick enough money.”

As good as it may sound, this business comes with a lot of highs and lows. While some die from poisoning, mostly borne out of jealousy, others die as a result of attacks from celebrants whose followers attack girls that pick monies meant for the celebrant. For instance, a clubber was few months ago killed at a hotel in Awka for allegedly picking money sprayed on a birthday celebrant. She was said to have ran out of the club when she perceived danger but unfortunately the people were in hot pursuit of her, found her where she was hiding, beat her to death and dumped her inside an empty pool.

Though the hotel where the incident took place was subsequently closed down by the state government, all inquiries came to naught as nothing can bring the girl back to life.

From investigations carried out, about five popular regulars have died of poisoning. It was learnt that the girls had enemies among other regulars because of the success they have made from the clubbing hustle, in the likes of business, dressing and contacts.

These deaths however have not stopped new girls from exploring this line of trade.

Like it is said, every trade has its pitfalls. That is to say that the sleepless nights, deaths, studs, falls, the long wait and sometimes, rejection, do not deter the night hawks from doing what butters their bread.