CodedRuns: The Rise Of A Nigerian Discreet Cybersex Platform

In a nation that has been identified to take pride in upholding traditional values, where only 0.6% of people identify as nonreligious and 53.5% as Muslims amongst other faiths, the number of forums offering sex has increased dramatically since the invention of the internet.

If you ask around, there are a number of recognised social accounts known for selling sex on social media platforms like Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok. It is shocking to know that a number of accounts with thousands of followers that provide access to sugar mummies, sugar babies, and other people with the prefix -sugar can be found by performing a quick search using keywords like “hookup” or “sugar mummy.”

On a discreet social platform, one of the accounts writes “Hot Sugar Mummy For You – More than 500 SugarMama Free Connections.” A similar account also states “Get Free Hookup with international Women Here.” Even the popular social media platform known for users who are professionals and in their careers has seen its own fair share of users in the business of selling sex or encouraging sexually related content.

However, CodedRuns, or simply CR for shorts, the Nigerian sex platform has managed to dominate the market for a very long time now. For those familiar with this platform it’s known for being nimble, encourages account authentication, request for testimonials from clients, paced a banning on pimping, soliciting, or transferring of accounts, allows rating of performances, and has shown to be reliable, but most importantly by focusing on the safety of the escorts.  The forum has developed into a vast hotspot that caters to all kinds of sexual desires, sitting on a server space of more than 4 terabytes, figures more than that owned by some commercial banks in Nigeria.

Twenty-five nations are now included in the reach for CR, and there are now 30,000 escorts and 50,000 registered clients all around Africa. Unregistered clients, who can book sessions with escorts without registering, are not included in this data. Everything on the website is for sale. For the purchase of aphrodisiacs of all types, raunchy underwear, and sex toys there is an e-commerce category. , Owners of hotels and short-term rentals are not left out, they steadily advertise their properties under a different category.  Naughty Video is a category owned by producers of adult content,  a brand-new category that states Live Cam when clicked, merely states “coming soon.” On CR all your fantasies can come to life, for the right price of course. 

Originally the forum didn’t start out to be what it is known for today, its first served as a space for members to discuss their sexual fantasies. In the early days of the forum, it was common for new members to freely express their first sexual experience. Members recommended that the administrator develop a forum for folks wishing to have safe hookups after a new member related her story, which involved a horrifying episode of sexual abuse. In an email to Technecxt, the administrator of the form confirmed it was then “we then meticulously embarked on building CodedRuns with a mindset to create a sane safe place for escorts to advertise their services.”

A full-time consultant for academic research (name not disclosed), who is a frequent user of these platforms disclosed that he signed up on CodedRuns because he didn’t see himself committing to any lady full-time. He has remained a devoted user because of the escorts’ professionalism as well as the website’s usability, he recalls he has attended more than ten sessions. “You can browse, you can search based on location to the exact state and even city,” he said.

The user remarked how much he enjoys browsing the pages, going through the photographs, and assessing the prices and level of specificity of the escorts. Clients only contact escorts on the website if they are certain they can fulfil whatever fantasy they may have for that day or weekend because every single piece of information is visible on the profile. Escorts who offer BDSM services state it on their profile along with their rates. While those who simply offer Facetime or WhatApp chat also make it known on their profiles. “All this information can be accessed without even having to provide your identity, or number or email,” says the devoted user.

But even as the sex trade proliferates on the internet, some young internet users are still not sure if this new way is how they want to find hookups even when they have to pay. One young man who works for a tech company in Lagos said he’ll never use any of these hookup platforms.

Despite the fact that the sex trade is becoming more and more prevalent online, some young internet users are still sceptical about this method of finding hookups, even when they have to pay for what they want. One young man who works in Lagos for a tech firm declared he would never use any of these hookup websites. “Why will I use these platforms when there are women everywhere?” CaveMan Dayo said.

Some of the escorts on CodedRuns claim they joined the site because, in their everyday lives, they receive payment from their boyfriends after having sex. This is true as the dating pool becomes more and more transactional. So signing up on the website and rendering these services is no different to them.

On CodedRuns, a small number of users continue to offer their services at low prices or even free of charge. The majority of these users are men, and they claim to use the service for the fun of it. While the ladies on the website start their rates at 20,000 to 40,000 Naira, these men cap theirs at 8,000 Naira. Some claim to be on the lookout for someone who wants a friends-with-benefits arrangement.

Even though the website has all it takes to opt for monetization, the administrator claimed they have been hesitant to go the route of milking it for every single kobo. Instead, they’ve adopted different approaches that will just generate enough revenue to keep the websites running, such as charging escorts who want their profiles to be more visible and taking a cut from users who charge for the right to submit their sexual content in the Naughty Video category. The admin doesn’t take any percentage from escorts or run banner adverts or google adverts. The bottom line according to CR admin “CodedRuns was not designed as a business. We still see ourselves as a charity, rendering a sane safe place for working girls and boys to advertise their services.”