Nana Plaza, an otherwise unassuming building at Jos’s Old Airport Junction, undergoes a troubling transformation after dark. While the plaza hosts legitimate daytime businesses, the surrounding area becomes a hub for illicit activities at night, including the sale of cigarettes and drugs by a group known as the “Michika Boys.” More alarmingly, the open space behind the plaza has become a center for teenage prostitution, with some girls as young as 14 years old trading sex for money to survive. Interviews with some of these young women reveal that they have been driven into this life by extreme circumstances, including parental neglect, displacement from their communities due to violence, poverty, and the struggle to provide for their children
A disturbing trend of teenage prostitution has emerged at Nana Plaza in Jos. As night falls, the area becomes a gathering place where minors engage in sex work to support themselves and their families. The individuals involved, some only 14 or 15 years old, cite a variety of desperate factors for their participation in this “skin trade,” including:
- Abandonment and Poverty: Some, like 16-year-old Rachael, turned to prostitution after being cast out by their families following unplanned pregnancies.
- Displacement and Violence: Others, such as 15-year-old Linda, were forced into this life after fleeing communities destroyed by bandit attacks and surviving exploitative conditions in IDP camps.
- Peer Pressure: Girls like 18-year-old Afiniki attributed their involvement to the influence of bad companions.
Option 3: Investigative Narrative Despite its appearance as a normal commercial site during the day, Nana Plaza in Jos has become a nocturnal center for illicit trade and underage prostitution. According to testimonies from the young women working there, the decision to engage in sex work is often a desperate response to a lack of alternatives. The girls interviewed explained that they earn between ₦2,000 and ₦10,000 per night, depending on the number of clients, though they are sometimes forced to accept as little as ₦200 to afford basic needs like food. These young women expressed deep regret for their current circumstances and the choices that led them there, yet they feel they have no other options for survival. At the time of this report, government authorities had not provided comments regarding the situation.
