Court jails woman for alms begging with children, Lagos vows to fight the menace

The Lagos State Government has again restated that the ban placed on street begging and use of babies and children for alms is still very much in force.

The Commissioner for Youth and Social Development, Olusegun Dawodu, spoke against the background of a report about a woman arrested at the Herbert Macaulay area of Ebute-Metta for using different babies to beg for alms.

The Commissioner noted that the case was brought before Yaba Magistrate Court 5, where the woman was sentenced to two months’ imprisonment without an option of fine.

He said the children would be taken to the juvenile Welfare Center for placement through the Ministry of Youth and Social Development for a period of two months.

Dawodu, who decried the increasing rate of using children to beg for alms in different parts of the state, said the act “is not befitting the status of Lagos State and will not be condoned.”

“This act is not only an indication of child abuse, but a clear violation of fundamental rights of our children as enshrined in Lagos State Child Rights Law 2015 which the State Government will continue to implement to the letter,” he said.