The occasion was the annual Saint Valentine’s Day, celebrated a couple of months ago on February 14, and the swimming pool of a popular hotel in Nigeria’s commercial nerve centre, Lagos State, was crammed with at least 25 young Nigerians who were celebrating, in their words, “lovers’ day.”
Although the establishment, a popular three-star hotel located in one of the bustling communities in Ikeja, had made sure customers at the poolside were offered a wide range of entertainment options and also provided the best customer service experience, some revelers were hell-bent on fulfilling their wildest sexual fantasies.
So, while those in the pool, mostly teenagers and those in their early twenties, were gyrating to the music provided by a nearby sound system, which drowned the voice of their excitement and merrymaking, two couples among that lot were caught in a compromising position in the water.
An argument ensued. Obviously, the offending parties were not alone. When they were accosted by other pleasure-seekers who said they should have gotten out of the pool and rented a room to indulge their escapade, they – including those with them – took umbrage at being disrespected.
The most disturbing part of the altercation was that after the hotel manager was called in to address the situation, there was little he could do.
He simply asked everyone to stay calm.
When The Point reached out to him about the incident to ask why he was helpless to act against the couples, he said that though the hotel has rules governing the use of the pool, there was none that explicitly said that people could not have sex in it.
The manager, Paul (not real name) also explained that he would be willing to answer all our questions if the name of the hotel he works for was concealed.
He feared that he would lose his job if the management of the hotel discovered that the hotel’s name was mentioned.
“It is true that there was an incident involving some people allegedly having sex in our pool. The truth is that as at the time it happened, there was no rule in the hotel against sexual activity in the pool, even though there are other rules regarding conduct in the pool.
“And what would we have even charged them with if we had called the police?” Paul asked.
Reminded that Nigerians frown at indecent exposure and that public indecency laws exist, which regulates acts involving nudity or sexual activity in view of the public, Paul said that since the sexual activity in the pool seemed to be “consensual,” it would be “difficult to pin anything against anyone.”
He also joked that perhaps only “magun,” a popular charm among the Yoruba people of Nigeria, commonly done to curb promiscuity by making a man unable to withdraw his penis after penetration, would have given clear evidence of sexual activity.
He said, “About the law you mentioned, remember that it is a swimming pool area we are talking about here and there will always be scantily clad people.
“But let us assume that we heard a lady screaming in the pool that she was being raped, it would have been a different matter entirely. But we have two adults engaging in the act consensually. How do you want to pin anything against anyone in such a scenario?
“So, for that reason, if those who were caught speak with one voice and deny any wrongdoing, even the courts cannot punish them.
“After all, it is not that they were trapped by ‘magun’ inside the pool where the whole world would be able to catch them red-handed and punish them accordingly.”
Although Paul clarified that the hotel he manages has now mounted a “no sex” signboard at the pool area, similar distasteful practices like the one he endured at his hotel has continued to gain a worrying trend in Nigeria.
The Point obtained several videos that seem to suggest that individuals were indeed abusing the use of public swimming pools by engaging in appalling sexual acts.
In one of the videos, a young man was pretending to teach a girl to swim. However, while he held her from behind, the expression on their faces and their body language indicated that they were in the throes of sexual passion.
“But let us assume that we heard a lady screaming in the pool that she was being raped, it would have been a different matter entirely. But we have two adults engaging in the act consensually. How do you want to pin anything against anyone in such a scenario?”
The distressing part of the video was that there were children, too, in the same pool and some social media commentators who were livid with anger said the couple engaging in the shenanigans should have had some reservations about their conduct.
In another video obtained, about four boys swam very close to a girl who obviously was not adept at swimming.
After a while, the boys began to frolic in the pool, and within seconds began rough handling the girl, even though she was laughing their actions off.
One of the boys then got behind her and it became evident that he may have likely had carnal knowledge of her in the pool.
Now, while the aforesaid girl’s case can be considered as unfortunate and unacceptable, there are girls, and even older women, who actually prepare for such episodes of lovemaking in the pool.
They do this by purchasing some of the latest women’s swimsuits that, shockingly, have gaping holes deliberately created around the region covering their private parts.
A trader at Egbeda, Nnenna Ikenna, who deals in such swimsuits said, “There are now women’s swimsuits that have holes in them and they are selling very fast.
“However, I don’t encourage anyone using them in a public swimming pool.”
Asked how much the swimsuits go for, Ikenna said that it ranged from N10, 000 to N15, 000, depending on the grade.
She however advised would-be customers, “Be sure that the pool belongs to you or your man if you want to use any one of these,” and then added with a wry smile, “Anything outside of that, I wash my hands clean.”
A medical practitioner, Hart Nwachukwu, who was asked whether there was any inherent danger in people having intercourse in public swimming pools, said there could be, especially if the immune systems of other pool users were weak.
He also said those who engage in such acts should be arrested for constituting public nuisance.
“Personally, I don’t swim in public swimming pools because many hotels and recreation centres don’t treat their pools right.
“In a public pool, all manner of things happen there. There might be people, who would urinate there, people who would poop in there could be present, too. There might even be those who have skin conditions that are harmful to others.
“If someone whose immune system is weak dives into a public swimming pool where the set of people I mentioned are already swimming in, that person may come down with one disease or the other.
“Then, as for those having sex in public pools, it is all shades of wrong. In my humble opinion, I think such people should be arrested. They should be prosecuted, too.
“They constitute public nuisance and the kind of society we live in does not smile at or tolerate that kind of practice at all.
“What if they have sexually transmitted diseases and they ejaculate in the water? This is why I advise that those who want to enter a public swimming pool must be certain that their immune systems are strong enough to defend their bodies against infections.
“But even at that, we must all tread with caution,” Nwachukwu said.
