Nigeria, June 3 -- On the day I met 26-year-old Shola (not real name), she had just arrived at a popular hotel in Ogba, a suburban area of Lagos, to engage in prostitution. Her prostitution journey started on Telegram in 2023. A friend had introduced her to a prostitution group on the platform, and by April 2025, Shola had become a full-time prostitute. Prostitution, also called 'hookup' in Nigeria, is the exchange of sexual activity for money.

The hotel where I met Shola allows prostitutes to operate freely in the corridors of their ground floor as well as in the club. Their business strategy was simple. The men would spend money on the prostitutes to buy drinks in the club, and to lodge at the hotel later on for coitus. A double money-...