TO rid Lagos of lunatics and beggars, the state government has sent over 3,105 beggars and lunatics to their countries and states of origin.

The Special Adviser to the governor on Youth and Social Development Dr. Dolapo Badru, who disclosed this at a ministerial briefing yesterday in Lagos, said 3,044 of the beggars arrested had been sent away in the last one year.

Giving a breakdown of the statistics, Badru revealed that Sokoto State had the highest number of beggars with 196 arrested on Lagos streets, followed by Oyo State with 83, Kano State 75, Osun State 67, Ekiti 21, while Ondo State had seven.

On the number of lunatics, he said available statistic showed that Niger Republic had the highest number of beggars and lunatics arrested by having 12, Chad Republic two and Cote d’Ivoire had one.

Badru explained that the state government had zero tolerance for destitution and begging in the state, adding that picking of unwanted persons from streets of Lagos would be a continuous exercise.

He stressed that his office would continue to work together with security agencies to rid the city of these unwanted persons, saying it was an offence to indulge the beggars who troop to the state on daily basis to beg for alms.

On the essence of the state’s rehabilitation centre at Owutu, Ikorodu, where beggars, the destitute, mentally challenged and drug addicts picked from the roads are taken to, he said the state government would continue to make provision for facilities to help rehabilitate such persons.

He said the mentally unstable picked on the roads across the state would be given adequate medical attention, while 38 able-bodied persons among those picked on the roads who were suspected to be criminals had been handed over to the state task force for prosecution.

On adoption and fostering, Badru disclosed that various applications were received from prospective adopters, locally and internationally who were screened in order to determine their suitability for adopting children while 177 letters of approval were granted.

He disclosed that 126 children were adopted by members of the public and 11 released for fostering, adding that 174 children had their adoptions legalised through the Juvenile Court while additional 161 babies were rescued and referred to various government homes and private orphanages.

Posted by admin on Sep 11 2011. Filed under Headlines, Lagos, State News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry