The Bauchi state government has revealed plans to conduct a headcount of sex workers in the state to have accurate data on them.
NAN reports that the Permanent commissioner in charge of Hisbah and Sharia implementation, Aminu Balarabe-Isah, disclosed this in Bauchi on Monday during a sensitisation workshop organised for sex workers.
He said the information gathered from the count will help the commission in taking measures that will discourage sex workers from continuing their trade.
He said investigation carried out by his agency shows illiteracy, poverty, and maltreatment from stepmothers as the cause for increasing interest in the trade.
He added that minor family issues also contributed to their decision.
Balarabe-Isah assured the sex workers that the government will make effort to reunite them with their parents.
He also said the state government had plans to organise empowerment programmes for the sex workers as well as provide them with capital to start small-scale businesses.
The commissioner said the state government was ready to organise mass marriages for those of them who wanted to get married.
Hafsatu Azare, who spoke on behalf of the sex workers, said they were willing to quit the trade if the government would empower them economically, describing their condition as pathetic.
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