In a new dimension in the war against begging, the Special Offences Court in Alausa area of Ikeja, Lagos, Southwest Nigeria has sent 30 beggars to Kirikiri and Badagry Prisons for soliciting for alms and other offences.

The Lagos State Government had charged them to court for constituting nuisance in public by begging for alms.

The government says it is no longer going to be business as usual as it has vowed to prosecute erring beggars on the streets of Lagos.

The Attorney General of Lagos State was the prosecutor in the case. Some of the count charges against the beggars included conducting themselves as disorderly persons without visible means of livelihood and thus committed an offence under the criminal law of Lagos State.

They were also charged with conducting themselves in a manner likely to cause breach of peace and for receiving, demanding and or collecting dues or unauthorised levy from persons and thus committed offence punishable under the law on illegal collection of dues in public places.

The beggars, 39 in number pleaded guilty to the offences and were consequently sent to Kirikiri and Badagry Prisons for one month pending when the final judgment would be delivered by the judge. Nine of them, as a result of their disabilities were rejected by prison officials and were then taken to the Lagos State Rehabilitation Home, Majidun, Ikorodu on the outskirts of Lagos.

Some of the beggars prosecuted, P.M.NEWS gathered, were said to have attacked government officials during a rampage at the Lagos State Rehabilitation Home, Majidun, the place where they were being rehabilitated.

Thirteen other beggars were also arraigned on Friday by the government at the same Special Offences Court. Three of the beggars were sentenced to 72 hours community service or pay a fine of N5,000, while 10 others were sentenced to three months imprisonment or pay fine of N10,000 each. Three others were sentenced directly to 72 hours community service without an option of fine.

Special Adviser to the Governor of Lagos State on Youth and Social Development, Dr. Dolapo Badru said government decided to begin prosecution of beggars because it had exhausted its patience with the beggars.

“We still rehabilitate some of them, but most of them don’t want to be rehabilitated and they don’t want to work. They feel more comfortable preying on people with superstitious beliefs.

“Some people believe that if they are unlucky in certain cases or looking for certain ways to make it in life, what they need to do is to give alms to beggars so that their fortune can change. Some believe that if someone debars their progress in life, what they need to do is to give money to beggars to change their fortune.

“Lots of beggars now prey on these people’s superstitious beliefs to get money from them. Many of them pretend to be blind, crippled, among others. They make more money than many people gainfully employed,” he explained.

Badru added that the cosmopolitan nature of Lagos had made it possible for barons to ship beggars to the metropolis to beg for alms, making lots of money, stressing that many of them felt so comfortable begging for alms on roads.

“We have tried a lot to rehabilitate them by making some of them to learn trade, but they don’t want to work. Some of them don’t want to use the skill we taught them to work, but they prefer to be on the road because they make more money at a go than using their skills.

“What we do now is that when we have overcrowding at the rehabilitation homes, we re-unite some of them with their families. However, some people rescued from the street more than once are prosecuted. We have sent 30 of them to Kirikiri and Badagry Prisons,” he stated.

Some of the beggars prosecuted are Fatima Jubril, Sanusi Muhammed, Lado Amadu, Badayani Garuba, Denyaya Isali, Beto Manu, Garuba Ibrahim, Aruna Yau, Dauda Amadu and Magada Salisu.

Source: (http:///TzC5WY)

since they refused to be rehabilitated,why not send them back to their state of origin? seriously, these beggars are constituting a nuisance. they prefer to beg and are too lazy to work. what surprises me most is you see some female beggars having up to 5 kids and using them to beg for alms. from iyana iba to igando, egbeda and iyana ipaja, their population is increasing daily.

The beggars are nothing but a nuisance to our society both the ables and the disables.
I think the government most especially the state has a major work to eradicate this nuisance. Like the Lagos state government did, the disabled should be well rehabilitated in the rehabilitation home and after the rehabilitation, they can now be empowered financially by setting them on a services like cobbler, laundry and art work cos i believe there is ability in disability even from the alphabetical makeup of the word. That is if they see the seriousness in the beggar, but if unserious, the beggar should be transfered to its state cos no state is created to bear the burden of another state's nuisance.
For the able bodied beggars, kirikiri should be their asylum cos they constitute more than nuisance. There are some of them faking beggars to kidnap, perpetuate evil and acquire another man's fortune with juju.

Sanko!!

*speechless*
In jail,they are assured of at least 2 meals per day, just that they'll have to work for it.

Excess Power!

This ought to be an interesting drama.how are beggers supposed to afford 5k? If they pay the money,it proves they are not beggers but if they don't,they get sent to jail.hmmm.

Begging is a booming business it is just like area boyz extorting peaple, just that one do it by begging while the other do it by force.
They should both be persecuted accordinly, no discrimination.

And den it gets better innt?all izz well

berem: since they refused to be rehabilitated,why not send them back to their state of origin? seriously, these beggars are constituting a nuisance. they prefer to beg and are too lazy to work. what surprises me most is you see some female beggars having up to 5 kids and using them to beg for alms. from iyana iba to igando, egbeda and iyana ipaja, their population is increasing daily.

black_beau: This ought to be an interesting drama.how are beggers supposed to afford 5k? If they pay the money,it proves they are not beggers but if they don't,they get sent to jail.hmmm.

Nice takes

berem: since they refused to be rehabilitated,why not send them back to their state of origin? seriously, these beggars are constituting a nuisance. they prefer to beg and are too lazy to work. what surprises me most is you see some female beggars having up to 5 kids and using them to beg for alms. from iyana iba to igando, egbeda and iyana ipaja, their population is increasing daily.

seriously, I thought I was the only one who noticed this.. Their population just keeps increasing everyday

Good. These Abokis really make more money than some Ikeja boys.

Nice one Fashola. Pls remember to jail the corprate beggers too.

Just 1 month....Mtscheeeeew! Those guys will be back on the street by before March ending....
He should build some sorta correctional facility for them, where they can be FORCEFULLY rehabilitated.
You dont learn a skill, you aint gonna go nowhere like they do at most American booth camps......

Na wa oh, Lagos state should build a Prison for this beggers, now they have sent them to Federal Govt jail, tomorrow Can will be the one to shout where are the money been made by FG or Federal govt is not doing anything in Lagos. Aleast we know Federal Govt will feed them while in Jail...

Una good morning oo

They have been banned so they should have been law-abiding. Why not go to your vilage n take up farming, must u live in Lagos by force?

everybody is a beggar at one point or the other.......everybody deserves a jail sentence

Naija i tire wuna.See lawan faruoq nd yusuf kabiru why not sent them 2 kirikiri,you jail a beggars to kirikiri?Corrupt nation.

Reminder of the three options:

1) Rehabilitation: includes drug testing, psychiatric evaluation, detoxification, psychiatric care and skill acquisition.

2) Repatriation: sent back to their states of origin (their state governments and/or relatives are informed that they are being repatriated and they may be given some funds to help them start a new life).

3) Prison/fine/community service.

The law applies to beggars, area boys, street traders, psychotics, agbero, etc.

Eko oni Bajeeeeeee

naptu2:
Repatriation: sent back to their states of origin (their state governments and/or relatives are informed that they are being repatriated and they may be given some funds to help them start a new life).

This of course will be met with serious criticisms.

wellmax:

This of course will be met with serious criticisms.

Yes. It's a massive ongoing debate on nairaland.

The state government says it gives arrested persons these options and the person chooses the option he/she prefers. So it's "voluntary repatriation".

Others counter that it is "deportation" (I.e people are forcefully removed) and therefore "unconstitutional".

Islamic hausa-fulani beggers

You can always tell a lot about a society by the way they treat the weak amongst them. Do we have rehabilitation agencies? Are there enough low skilled jobs?

Everytime I see Lawma stsff doing their jobs, I feel so proud of them. I imagine the pay is so small, yet they would rather work than beg. If they were to strike for a week, you would immediately see the impact of their work to society.

There are many areas in Lagos that need cleaning up. Why dont they offer these people training and cleaning jobs before jailing them when they refuse the offer?

ypzilanti: You can always tell a lot about a society by the way they treat the weak amongst them. Do we have rehabilitation agencies? Are there enough low skilled jobs?

Everytime I see Lawma stsff doing their jobs, I feel so proud of them. I imagine the pay is so small, yet they would rather work than beg. If they were to strike for a week, you would immediately see the impact of their work to society.

There are many areas in Lagos that need cleaning up. Why dont they offer these people training and cleaning jobs before jailing them when they refuse the offer?

Actually, that's exactly what happens. Read about the rehabilitation centres at Tekunle Island, Surulere, etc (there are thirteen of them in the state).

However, some that have received training eventually return to begging, some prefer one of the other two options (eg repatriation) and some area boys burnt down the rehabilitation centre at Tekunle.

Some of the rehabilitated people are given loans by Lagos State Micro-finance Institution (LASMI) to start a trade. Some become drivers of LASMI cabs (those new yellow taxis you see in Lagos), some are employed into KAI, LASTMA, LAWMA, etc after undergoing training (although citizens insult them and call them area boys), etc.

naptu2: Some of the rehabilitated people are given loans by Lagos State Micro-finance Institution (LASMI) to start a trade. Some become drivers of LASMI cabs (those new yellow taxis you see in Lagos), some are employed into KAI, LASTMA, LAWMA, etc after undergoing training (although citizens insult them and call them area boys), etc.

If this is actually true, then Lagos State government is doing the right thing. Nice.

I would not advice that we turn former beggers to LASTMA or KAI officials, though. It's a recipe for power intoxication. I have not heard of people insulting LAWMA people sha oh. Does anyone have a problem with LAWMA? I think they are one very efficient agency.

ogele: Na wa oh, Lagos state should build a Prison for this beggers, now they have sent them to Federal Govt jail, tomorrow Can will be the one to shout where are the money been made by FG or Federal govt is not doing anything in Lagos. Aleast we know Federal Govt will feed them while in Jail...

ogele: Na wa oh, Lagos state should build a Prison for this beggers, now they have sent them to Federal Govt jail, tomorrow Can will be the one to shout where are the money been made by FG or Federal govt is not doing anything in Lagos. Aleast we know Federal Govt will feed them while in Jail...

ogele: Na wa oh, Lagos state should build a Prison for this beggers, now they have sent them to Federal Govt jail, tomorrow Can will be the one to shout where are the money been made by FG or Federal govt is not doing anything in Lagos. Aleast we know Federal Govt will feed them while in Jail...

If you know that police in Lagos will only be boy scout without Lagos goverment long standing and continuous financial support, then it should not surprise you of the input of the Lagos govt would be in the so-called federal prisons here.

I think the Northern senators should hold a meeting over the Aboki dominance in the begging industry.

[quote author=5alive]everybody is a beggar at one point or the other.......everybody deserves a jail sentence.
Pls report yourself at Kirikiri to join your fellows for your prison sentence. I am not a prisoner and will never be one.