The Lagos State Police detained and charged a 29-year-old man who dressed himself as a prostitute to defraud unsuspecting club-goers.
Victor Monday, who was arrested by police officers at the Mushin Police Station for not giving any real reason to be out on Ogunmokun Street by 12 a.m., was in a woman’s dress waiting for a “client” on the roadside when he was nabbed.
He was detained in a female cell until he was noticed by a police officer on the inspection. His beards aroused suspicion, and a search revealed that he wore a wig, a mask, and a covered breast. A police source said that he blamed his dishonest acts for not being employed
“His mode of operation was to go to clubs at night and look for men he would spend the night with while disguising like a woman. He would dance around to attract men to himself. Whoever is interested in spending the night with him would approach him.
“He would collect some money from his unsuspecting victim as part payment for his service and have fun on his bill. While they were drinking and wining, he would tell the man that he wanted to urinate and use that opportunity to run away. He said he made between N7,000 and N10,000 per night,” the source said.
Confessing to the crime, the Rivers State indigene said he went into crime in 2018, got arrested by the police but secured his freedom after some of his church members secured his bail.
He said, “I came to Lagos last year and was squatting around. When it was night, I would look for a hidden place to dress like a woman and go to any club to dance as a woman. Men who have feelings for me would give me money, but I don’t follow them to hotels. I managed to run away.
“At times, I made N8,000 per day. I was going to a nightclub on September 15 when police arrested me. I told them my name is Joy, but later one of them discovered that I am a man. I do this because I don’t have a job.”
The charge sheet against Victor who was arraigned before an Ogba Magistrates’ Court on four counts bordering on impersonation and fraud, read in part;
“That you, Victor Monday, on September 15, 2019, at 12.10am, on Ogunmokun Street, Akala area, Mushin, in the Lagos Magisterial District, did indecently act by presenting yourself as a woman in order to obtain money from members of the public, thereby committing an offence punishable under Section 380 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State of Nigeria, 2015.”
He pleaded not guilty to the charges and was granted bail in the amount of N80, 000 with one surety in the same sum by the presiding magistrate, Mrs M. O. Tanimola, who also adjourned the case until 16 October.
