Lagos rescues 51 destitute children, beggars

A recently launched campaign by the Lagos State government tagged ‘Operation Clear Lagos’, constituted to address the menace of street begging, rehabilitate destitute and mentally challenged persons, has rescued 51 persons.

The campaign, led by the Rescue Team of the Ministry of Youth and Social Development, kicked off at the weekend across the 20 Local Government Areas and 37 Local Council Development Areas of the state, leading to the rescue of 10 mentally challenged persons, five destitute children, eight children beggars, nine children labour workers, four destitute adult and 15 transgender adult beggars.

Commenting on the operation, the Commissioner for Youth and Social Development, Agboola Dabiri, said in order to achieve the goal of a total clean up of all acts constituting public nuisance and threat to social security, there was need for residents to cooperate with government to end street begging and other unacceptable practices of a mega-city status.

Children rescued during the operation are currently being placed at rehabilitation and correctional homes in the state based on specifications of age, gender and physical challenges.

Meanwhile, to prevent wastage and economic loss, the Lagos State government yesterday said it would be working to achieve a zero-accident city in the next three years.

The Director General, Lagos State Safety Commission, Mr. Hakeem Dickson, at a press briefing to announce the Zero Accident conference slated for June 26 to 28, implored residents and businesses to come on board and support the state by keying into the vision so that unsafe acts could be reduced, aside promoting wellbeing in the workplace.

This, he said, was the major reason the government launched the Vision Zero Campaign, so that corporate bodies and individuals would be safety conscious. In the vein, he said Governor Akinwunmi Ambode would during the three-day conference sign a Safety Policy Document on safety at the workplace.

According to him, the campaign was borne out of the need to reduce to the barest minimum, hazards and risks in the workplace and ensure zero injury, zero accident, zero death and promote wellbeing and health.