Sharon Osaji writes about how women have continued to be targets of harassment in major markets in the country and the fight to break the cycle

It was Lolade Ishola’s first time at the Yaba Market in Lagos. The 18-year-old was in her second year at a private university when she and her friends decided to visit the market, popular for affordable women’s wear.

Ishola, who claimed to be from a comfortable family background, was not used to being out of her parents’ sight without close monitoring.

Schools were on break, and she seized the opportunity to explore Lagos with her friends before she would go to the outskirts of town, Ikorodu, where her parents lived.

Despite being in the university, she was not allowed to go out with friends often and was not familiar with commercial buses for transportation.

Whenever she was allowed to go out, her parents always ensured that she was chauffeur-driven.

The young lady, full of life and eager to explore the world for herself, was not going to miss out on this opportunity.

“We were supposed to go to Yaba Market to shop for some clothes and footwear and afterward visit a cinema on the Island before going for a beach party later that evening,” Ishola told this reporter.

But the market first-timer was about to experience what was going to be one of the worst days of her life.

“We entered one of those popular yellow, danfo buses (commercial buses) to Yaba, from around Magodo where one of my friends, who organised the hangout, lived.

“We were supposed to take a taxi, but because they wanted me to experience how danfo buses were, we decided to take a bus. I was excited for the adventure that awaited me that day,” she said.

However, when Ishola and her friends arrived at the market, her excitement was almost immediately quenched.

“When we alighted from the bus, two men approached us immediately, asking us what we wanted to buy and marketing what they sold. They started touching us to get our attention. But I and my two friends tried to stay together by holding hands.

“In seconds, they became four men, all talking at the same time. One of them grabbed my friend, Bisi’s hand, but she immediately shook it off. We then paused to cross the road. It was then one of the men, I don’t know who, grabbed my butt and squeezed it,” Ishola shook her head as she recounted the ordeal.

Ishola, now 26, said she could not move after the incident as she was in shock.

She added, “I turned back and looked at the men behind me. They were already like six if I’m not mistaken, with some bus conductors standing around. Tears immediately started flowing down my eyes.

“My friends asked me what happened and I told them. I felt raped. I felt small. I felt less than a woman. I felt like my dignity was stolen. It was a very bad experience. We immediately left the market in a cab. Our day was over and the next day, I went home to my parents.”

Ishola said the incident happened in 2015 and she had never visited the market again until this Wednesday her path crossed with our correspondent.

Even though many years had passed, she said the incident was still fresh in her memory, which prompted her to come to the market with her husband this time around.

“The only reason I decided to come to Yaba Market today since the incident was because I was redirected here from another market to get what I had been looking for. And because it’s my first time since 2015, I decided to come with my husband to protect me.

“It’s so coincidental that I’m having an interview about my experience today,” she added.

Another woman in the market’s stock jeans section, Sherifat Momodu, said she was already used to the way the market men behaved.

Momodu, who claimed to live in Yaba, however, noted that in recent times, the men had been more cautious as more women had raised concerns about sexual molestation.

She said, “The way men behave in the market is nothing new; it has been so for a very long time. They are always ready to grab the first woman they see in order to get her attention and market their goods. Not all of them mean bad, they just want to make sales.”

She continued, “I am on the big side and every time I come to Yaba, I always warn the male traders to leave me alone, but I haven’t been touched in sensitive places; just on my hands and they call me names like ‘Big mama’, ‘Orobo’ (fat person).

“But lately, I have noticed that their advances and that style of marketing have really reduced. Even if one of them starts misbehaving, the others will caution him to stop.”

Also, when Sunday PUNCH visited the market, it was observed that many of the male traders refrained from touching females that paraded the busy area in search of goods.

Instead, they walked beside or in front trying to convince the prospective customer to head to their shops.

When our correspondent approached one of the traders to enquire about the changes, he said the market association had banned them from touching women who came to buy goods after loads of complaints from female customers.

“We don’t do this thing with any evil intention; it is just to get the attention of the customers because people are many in the market. Women come to the market more; so it seems they are the target but we do it to men as well.

“However, the market association here, City Way Complex Association, has made it mandatory that we stop touching women who visit the market because of the many complaints. If anyone is found defaulting, the person will be penalised,” Chike Onyebuchi, who sells fairly used jeans and T-shirts, said.

The Anambra indigene, however, noted that persuasion, as a marketing strategy, worked many times, adding that the practice of touching customers was not limited to a particular tribe.

“There’s no tribe you will not find in the market: Igbo, Yoruba, Calabar and Hausa traders are all here and we all touch customers to get their attention, only a few have ulterior motives. Many people just want to sell their goods, but in recent times, it has reduced greatly,” he explained.

A female trader, who did not want her name to be mentioned in print, said female traders were guilty as well.

“When customers pass by our shops, sometimes we touch them and say, ‘Fine uncle, fine aunty, please come and buy what we are selling.’ It is just to get their attention, nothing more.

“But we don’t stand along the road to source for customers as the men do. We usually divide ourselves; one person stands along the road, while the others stay in the shop to sell,” she added.

She, however, stated, “Inside the market where there is crowd is where you still experience such, not along the roads anymore. There, they also make jest of women who have bigger features than others; some of the male traders go as far as singing derogatory songs to mock ladies,” she revealed.

As this reporter left the Yaba Market, showers of rain had begun and traders, as well as customers, scampered under shades to avoid getting soaked.

Others started erecting umbrellas and covering their goods with nylons as the reporter headed for the Lagos Island Market.

Lagos Island Market

The Lagos Island Market is one of the most popular major markets in Lagos and perhaps the oldest.

It is made up of the Balogun Market, Dosunmu Market and Idumota Market.

As Sunday PUNCHarrived at the Lagos Island Market, from the car park, a young man approached her, directing her to a section of the market called Mandillas

Soon, one became two, and two became three.

All three men wanted our correspondent to follow them into the market so they could serve as a guide on the best stores to get items.

However, this reporter turned down their appeals and seized the opportunity to interact with them about their actions as they shared their experiences.

Lady customer slapped me – Trader

David Chidi, who is a marketer for one of the warehouses in Balogun Market, said he was slapped by a lady after he touched her with “one finger.”

Chidi, who claimed he was trying to win the prospective customer to buy from his store, said he had not touched anyone in the market since the incident.

“A lady has slapped me before in Balogun because I wanted to take her to our warehouse. But I cannot retaliate. I am the one looking for customers, not her.

“I was trying to talk to her to get her attention, and she was with her friends, so I just touched her arm with one finger to get her to listen to me; it was then she turned and slapped me,” he narrated.

The Imo State indigene said he felt embarrassed.

“I thought about my life that day and if this stress was actually worth it, but I have moved past that now and continued my hustle.

“Some people may even feel we want to steal from them, but if we are bad people, even the boys who stay at the parks would not let us in. We do our marketing in public; it isn’t something we hide to do,” he added.

Chidi, however, condemned the action of men who hid under the guise of marketing to harass ladies and touch them inappropriately.

He noted that some men found it hard to control themselves around women.

He said, “Touching women anyhow or even holding their hands is not good; I personally don’t do that. I can follow customers and try to convince them by showing my card, so they know I’m an authentic salesperson, but if they refuse, I cannot force them.

“I think some men cannot actually control themselves around women and it goes back to how people have been raised and brought up. When they see a beautiful woman, the first thing that comes to their mind is ‘make I tap small current’, and such a mentality is bad.

“Some ladies also purposely wear what is inappropriate to the market just to show off, and not every man that appears okay is normal.”

The second trader from Akwa Ibom State, Michael Effiong, said the reaction of customers when approached would reveal whether or not they were interested in buying his goods.

“In this business, you have to be able to read people’s moods when you approach them. If I talk to a customer who does not respond well to me, I respect myself and leave them alone. Customers have literally pushed me away on many occasions. It is what we see every day, so it’s already a normal occurrence,” he added.

The third trader, Justice Kenneth, also corroborated Effiong’s claims.

Kenneth, who nodded his head in agreement as Effiong spoke with Sunday PUNCH said, “We are all marketers who look for customers for our stores. When we are trying to get customers’ attention, we follow them while sweet-talking them to buy our goods.

“And because people are many in the market, most times they just keep walking, like they did not hear you. So, we touch them to let them know that ‘I am the one talking to you, please purchase from me’.”

Folding his hands, he added, “But if she reacts badly and says ‘Don’t touch me’, ‘Stop following me’, ‘I don’t like people following me’, as a foot soldier, when you hear that, you must give them space.

“There are some replies you get and you know that that person does not want to have anything to do with you, and if you follow such a person all day, you will not get anything from her.

“But some other times, customers will respond in such a way that we will have hope and continue following them, in case they change their mind. For such, we give them space and monitor, then when we notice they are confused, we show up again to proffer assistance.”

Kenneth, who also said he worked as a salesperson for a warehouse in the market, revealed that he got paid at the end of the month and did not collect a commission for taking people to where they could buy goods.

“We also don’t ask anything from customers, but some might want to appreciate us, especially when they are happy with what they have bought, by giving us money. Others take our numbers and that way, we become their market plug and build our own contacts,” the Abia State indigene added.

When asked if he had been assaulted by an angry customer, Kenneth said he had not.

He said, “One must be able to read people. When you talk to someone who is harsh, temperamental or already angry, he can react in nasty ways. And even if he hits you, as a marketer, you cannot do anything.”

As our correspondent went further into the large market, there were colourful, big umbrellas everywhere, with the road itself used as a showroom as traders displayed goods on waterproof materials spread on the floor.

A fight suddenly broke out just at the entrance of the market while passersby gathered to watch.

A few steps from the scene of the fight, our correspondent approached a young lady who was negotiating the price of cow meat with a Yoruba meat seller.

Trader attempted to kiss me – Woman

The lady, Lauretta Ikwudogwu, had a calm countenance with a fair complexion that glowed from a distance.

She told this reporter that she had been a victim of sexual molestation in the marketplace on many occasions.

However, she had had none of such experience in the Lagos Island Market.

Narrating her worst ordeal to Sunday PUNCH she said the incident happened when she lived in Aba, a city in the South-Eastern state of Abia.

“I went to buy fresh fish inside Aba Market and there was this guy who kept poking me from behind. Aba Market is as rowdy and crowded as Balogun.

“It was so bad that I could feel the poking of his manhood on my backside. I would push him off again and again and the next second, he had returned. I then turned back to shout at him; but immediately I turned, he grapped me and wanted to kiss me.

“That was the most embarrassing moment of my life; I can never forget that day. The silly man just kept saying ‘sorry ma’ when I slapped him,” Ikwudogwu said, shaking her head as she recounted the ordeal.

The mother of two added, “I think this is a national issue and should be taken seriously. Beyond sexual harassment, I have heard stories of women and female children being raped in markets. Women should be protected more.”

Another lady, Bisi George, however, said she experienced what she referred to as ‘sperm bath’ in the Lagos Island Market when she mounted a bike from Idumota to Balogun to get a bus home.

The busty lady said, “We were two passengers on the bike; myself and another man, and I was in the middle. The bike man was Hausa; he was literally rubbing against my breasts with his back and I kept shouting throughout the short ride.

“When I got down from the bike at my destination, I noticed that my right thigh was slightly wet and I was wondering where the wetness came from. Then I looked that the bike man and his pair of trousers was wet with semen towards where I placed my thigh.

“The guy who boarded the bike with me shouted when he realised what had happened. But before we could do anything, the bike man had fled. It all happened in seconds and I felt embarrassed. I quickly washed my thigh and my hands and went home.”

A female trader, who asked to be identified only as Abiola, said on many occasions, male traders had been caught molesting female customers in the market.

She said a particular trader, who sold flip-flops along the busy road, was notorious for such acts.

“We have also caught him twice ejaculating on the road,” she added.

Continuing she said, “I don’t think the men that do these things are mentally stable. The government needs to take them away to psychiatric homes to rid our markets of such people. In all honesty, many of the men here just want to sell their goods and are genuine businessmen, but a few among them have ulterior motives,” Abiola added.

Sunday PUNCH left the Lagos Island Market after gathering that the market association had no regulation in place to curb the excesses of the traders.

Computer Village

Computer Village is popular for being the one-stop location for all Information and Communications Technology accessories; from phones to tablets, computers and anything gadget.

The market is located in a community called Otigba, in the capital city of Lagos, Ikeja.

A phone trader, Tochukwu Nedu, said Computer Village was not notorious for inappropriate advances, adding, however, that it could not be completely excluded.

Nedu said, “Touching people to get their attention is normal, but I have never heard of any case degrading into sexual harassment during my stay here, and I have been here for six years.”

However, some female shoppers disagreed with Nedu.

A shopper, who was at Nedu’s phone store and identified herself only as Victoria, said, “Well, the traders might not consider touching people as harassment but it is and it happens every time.

“These men in the name of ‘come and buy my market’ will be pressing women all over, especially the men who hold their goods in their hands and walk around the market, spreading them out for shoppers to see.

“Sometimes, they would pass behind a lady and you would feel their manhood on your body. Some would even purposely tap your body and then act like it was a mistake. One day, I wanted to buy a charger and a trader held my hands, saying ‘This aunty is very soft o’. Just imagine.”

Victoria lamented that the behaviour had gone on for years and “has not reduced in any way.”

She added, “How can you be harassed in a market where you are coming to spend your money? It should stop. I don’t think we talk about this enough.”

Another lady, Toju Ogundele, said she hated being touched whenever she visited the market.

She said, “I don’t know who advised the traders that touching people is the best way to get their attention. It’s a very bad practice, honestly. I don’t think there is any market where these things do not happen in Nigeria. It has gone on for too long that we have seen it as normal.”

Fight against market harassment

Nigerian women have continued to lament bitterly about harassment in major markets across the country, a practice that has gone on for decades.

In December 2018, a group of women took to the streets of the Yaba Market to protest against the incessant harassment of women in the market.

The march, which was tagged, ‘Market March’, was organised by a brand identity designer, Damilola Marcus, who was spurred by the drive to curb the age-long bullying and harassment of women in the market.

During the protest, which made news back then, many of the traders were visibly displeased with the courage of the women to protest against such conduct.

It was reported that some traders reacted violently by throwing water and hurling insults at the protesting women, while others replied to them with chants saying, “We must touch.”

In 2019, a national newspaper (not PUNCH) conducted a survey to assess the extent of harassment in markets nationwide.

The data revealed that 76.2 per cent of women in the country had experienced market harassment in their lifetime.

It revealed further that the two major age demographic with the highest experience of harassment were 21 to 25 years and 31 to 35 years, with 26.5 per cent and 21.7 per cent, respectively.

Lagos had the highest rate of market harassment experienced in the country with 71.1 per cent.

Some of the major markets in Lagos with a high prevalence of harassment were Yaba/Tejuosho, Balogun, Idumota, Computer Village and Oshodi.

Meanwhile, Enugu, Onitsha, Benin and Abuja ranked among the states where it was largely experienced.

Physical and verbal abuse ranked among the major types of harassment experienced by women with a frequency of 69.8 per cent.

The survey revealed that the harassment was experienced more than five times and mostly in the afternoon.

The most common forms of harassment were sexual remarks about looks, poking, and whistling, among others.

In April 2023, social media was awash with a viral video of a woman being harassed in a market in Lagos.

The incident reignited the desire in women across the country to see an end to the age-long practice, as they began sharing countless experiences and calling on the government to create and implement laws to regulate such activities in the markets.

Meanwhile, efforts to get the reaction of the Lagos State Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation proved abortive as the ministry’s Public Relations Officer, Mrs Abimbola Salehu-Badejo did not pick up calls or respond to text messages sent to her phone line.

Similarly, the Iyaloja General of Lagos, Folasade Tinubu-Ojo was unreachable for comments and reaction.

Congested nature of markets breeds harassment – Experts

A professor of Sociology at the Ahmadu Bello University, John Gyong, said the congested and rowdy nature of markets bred harassment.

He explained that many traders had money and were comfortable, but most were uneducated; a combination which he said could be disastrous

He said, “Because the nature of the market is a congested place, harassment of all kinds occurs there.

“Also, these traders have money and when you give money to an illiterate, he feels he owns the whole world and can behave anyhow he likes. That is why harassment is rampant. However, not all of them do this intentionally; some just want to sell their goods.”

He added that the level of enlightenment of individuals mattered in such situations.

Explaining, he said, “Some women because of their level of exposure and education may decide to dress in a way that if they were men, it wouldn’t be considered as indecent dressing. But again, the level of enlightenment of people in markets is unfortunately not as high. Some of these traders see it as an opportunity to harass women sexually, physically or verbally.”

Another sociologist, Favour Ezue, said although a market could be congested, it was not an excuse to harass people.

She said, “You cannot separate a congested place from one form of harassment or the other. But it comes down to the general mentality of the people.

“I have been harassed in a marketplace too and I think as a people, we need to be re-orientated, with punishment and regulations put in place to enlighten these men on the severity of the actions.”