Mr. Edward Adeniyi is from Lagos State, but among those taken to Onitsha. He told Saturday Sun: "I am Mr. Edward Adeniyi from Western Avenue (Ojuelegba), Lagos. I am a Loto agent until I was arrested and sent to the prison after which I found myself in Onitsha, in the East. I was arrested in May, around Mile 2. I was coming from Maza Maza, where I went to sell Loto printout. I was working with Premier Loto.

Uduaka Asuquo from Akwa Ibom State said she was, until her arrest, a commuter operator and office assistant in Ikoyi, Lagos. According to her: "I was arrested and taken to a place I did not know and I could not contact any of my family members. I was a computer operator in Ikoyi, Lagos and one day, I went out to buy something in my street. It was on environmental sanitation day. I saw a vehicle parked.

The officers bundled me into the vehicle and drove away. They took me to Ikorodu. They dumped me where they kept mad people and beggars and after that, they arranged 16 vehicles that brought us down here. My village is Isenyon, but my parents are living at Ikot Abasi in Akwa Ibom State."

.Tales of 'deportations'

The current controversy between Lagos and Anambra state governments over the dumping of some persons removed from the streets of Lagos in Onitsha may be coming as a rude shock to the latter, but this will not surprise government officials in Ogun, Oyo, Kaduna and Kano, as they had equally been made to swallow a similar bitter pills in the past.

Records show that the foundation for the deportation of unwanted non-indigenes from Lagos was laid in 2003 when the state began an aggressive policy of ridding the streets of persons tagged as beggars, destitute persons, insane and the like, as a means of enhancing the aesthetics of the environment and security. Ogun and Oyo states were the first to have a taste of this policy then. Since then, it has become an annual ritual for the Lagos State government to send persons labelled under any of these categories to the next designated state within the country. Besides, the number of deportees keeps increasing year in, year out. The figure, however, hit an alarming rate in 2009 when the state government deported about 160 persons tagged destitute persons from the northern part of the country.

They were dumped on the outskirts of the Kaduna metropolis. Like in the previous attempts, the northern deportees were secretly dumped at around 7pm at Abuja Junction, along the Kaduna-Abuja expressway, close to the Federal Cooperative College, Kaduna. The group included men, women and children, mostly crippled, deaf, blind, lepers and others with serious disabilities. The Kaduna State Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development then, Dr. Maryamu Laka Madami, had disclosed that the state government was making arrangements to transport them to Kano and other northern states they were originally from. The Kaduna State government only mulled an action against the Lagos State government but that appeared to be the end of the controversy then. In 2010, it was again the turn of Ogun State to receive another batch of deportees from Lagos. Officials of the Ogun State government had protested then that it was embarrassing and unfortunate that Lagos State government officials took about 70 destitute persons from the streets of Lagos and dumped them in Abeokuta on May 11 of the same year without finding out their states of origin.

The destitute persons were said to have been taken in six buses, around 2.30am and were dumped at Ita Oshin end of Abeokuta North Local Government Area. The chairman of the local government, Alhaji Abeeb Ajayi, who received them, had expressed sadness at the development. Some of the destitute persons were said to have been picked up from the streets, kept in the rehabilitation camp in Majidun, Lagos, for some months before they were transferred to the Ogun State capital. While most of them admitted that they were from Ogun State, a sizable number of them claimed they were from Ondo, Bayelsa and Rivers states.

A livid Ogun State Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development then, Mrs. Tomi Soboyejo, was reported to have said: "It is unacceptable for Lagos to continue to dump destitute persons here; it is unfortunate. This is the third time this type of incident will happen; the second time they brought over 100 destitute persons. "The first time, they brought 40 of them and dumped them on the premises of the State High Court, Isabo. How do you justify this? Ogun State is the only neighbour of Lagos; the other is just the Atlantic Ocean.

If they have not dumped these people here, they might have dumped them in the Atlantic Ocean." Records also show that in 2011 alone, over 3,105 beggars and lunatics were deported to their states of origin by the Lagos State government with Oyo State government having the largest share of the figure. This was said to have angered the then government of Oyo State, Adebayo Alao-Akala, but the protestation also fizzled out like those in the past.

hardywaltz: Nairaland is such a funny place, i knew the other thread wasn't the last i was going to hear of this deportation business. Where are the tribal warlords from the west and Fashola apologist to continue from where they stopped??!!

jmaine: OP, give this "Fashola Deportation" topic a rest now . .E be like say dem bin follow deport you join ! . . .Cos your zest on this topic is shocking and unbelievable

mekuslogan:

Don't be a jackass. Deportee with access to the internet? Hahahahaha!!!
But seriously, Fasola does not deserve a break. It is unheard of that people are deported in their own country and the earlier he is called to order, the better for the nation. Soon everyone will be deporting non-indigenes. Yorubas should not think they are in any way immune. There are Yorubas in the East, SS and North. Besides, bad as the deportation thing is, what is the rationale behind deporting someone to a state other than their own?

Ileke-IdI:


Save your aggression for Orji Kalu who fired non-Abian workers from public service.

Were you this passionate then?

My dear, you have a complex issue when it comes to Yoruba. Unless you were also deported, that would explain your zealous posts on this topic.

Ileke-IdI:


Save your aggression for Orji Kalu who fired non-Abian workers from public service.

Were you this passionate then?

My dear, you have a complex issue when it comes to Yoruba. Unless you were also deported, that would explain your zealous posts on this topic.

mekuslogan:

Hey you can fire anybody from service, for any number of reasons. Firing people is a world wide affair. But you cannot deport people from their places of residence in their own country and then you do it so sloppily by deporting them to states other than theirs. Don't be an iddiioott.

Aigbofa:

Seriously, we shouldn't be too hard on these migrant workers from the east, agriculture is labor intensive and we need them as long as they are properly documented.

mekuslogan:

What are you going to do about the Lagos man deported to Onitsha? Has he been sacrificed by the Yorubas to please Ogun, Sango or Ifa?

Aigbofa:

Seriously, we shouldn't be too hard on these migrant workers from the east, agriculture is labor intensive and we need them as long as they are properly documented.

Ileke-IdI:


Yet when Yorubas were being deported from Lagos, you glorified Fashola.

Don't be an iddiot, my dear. But if you must be, don't be a hypocritical one.

Something tells me that you're angry because you think Fashola wants to deport non-Yorubas. tsk tsk.

Ileke-IdI:


small small, Ekiti will start deporting them too.

sheyguy: Anybody can call himself Adeniyi Jones or whatever . . . Lagos is easy to claim because of the ease of learning Yoruba Language and ultimately blending in. . . What do you expect easterners who can't trace their family or even town to resort to? They simply claim Lagos! . . . Or those who falsely claimed Ogun and Oyo but can't bare the pain and shame any longer . . . Ehn?

mekuslogan:

So you are willing to let your brother wrongly deported to die in Onitsha

cjrane: I think other states should catch anyone they suspect of being poor and depot those to Lagos.That will make it 1;1.Now it is Fashola 1: other states 0

Ileke-IdI:


Save your aggression for Orji Kalu who fired non-Abian workers from public service.

Were you this passionate then?

My dear, you have a complex issue when it comes to Yoruba. Unless you were also deported, that would explain your zealous posts on this topic.

How we were arrested and deported to Onitsha -VictimsSaturday, September 29, 2012How we were arrested -Victims advertisement   From EMMA UZOR, Onitsha

Dudu_Negro: Ordinarily when you see this report it has a touch of fact but when examined cloaely you soon see the dynamics and the length iyanmiris have gone to concoct a falsehood propaganda.

First take a look at the story heading...



Who is EMMA UZOR ?

Go on google and search and read up on him. Emma Uzor is a ibo sympathiser and his story is a fake. The Adeniyi person is a fake. How can Adeniyi ride from Lagos to Onitsha and not bring his issue of misidentity to the attention of the driver?

mekuslogan:

Will the driver believe him just like you have believed him now? You are so shameless. See what LASTMA is doing in Lagos. Do they give anyone arrested/caught any room for explanation?

mekuslogan:

Hey Dudu Monkey,

Am waiting for your response here. Please address the challenge I posed you here https://www.nairaland.com/newpost?topic=1062486.

Also,

You lied about Arthur Nzeribe and failed to supply he link. You are so, so shameless. You deserve an award for lies.

Ileke-IdI:


Save your aggression for Orji Kalu who fired non-Abian workers from public service.

Were you this passionate then?

My dear, you have a complex issue when it comes to Yoruba. Unless you were also deported, that would explain your zealous posts on this Each time i've seen this Abia issue raised by Yorubas in defence of Fashola's act, its been (clearly) incorrectly applied, misused or false. Its okay if you dont know twart about another ethnic group, but displaying such ignorance and trying to use it as a shield is ... someone else can fill in the rest cause i tire for this kind thing.
its like desperation and tribalism eats up ones morals and ethics without their knowing. maye even their intelligence.
(I must say though, i believe you just made a mistake). Orji Kalu didnt do nadda like that.
topic.

hardywaltz: Nairaland is such a funny place, i knew the other thread wasn't the last i was going to hear of this deportation business. Where are the tribal warlords from the west and Fashola apologist to continue from where they stopped??!!