The Lagos State government has in a bid to check the menace caused by the influx of beggars in the state deported some 3,105 beggars and lunatics to their states and countries of origin.
The special adviser to the governor on youth and social development, Dolapo Badru, disclosed this during a briefing on Thursday in Lagos. He said about 3,044 of the beggars arrested in raids on lunatics have been deported in the last one year.
Mr 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 - 67, Ekiti - 21, and Ondo State - seven.
He added that a breakdown in the number of lunatics showed that Niger Republic had the highest number of beggars and lunatics arrested, with 12; Chad Republic - two and Côte d'Ivoire - one.
Mr Badru reiterated the state government's zero-tolerance for begging and destitution in the state, adding that the exercise of picking up unwanted persons from the streets of Lagos would be a continuous exercise.
He said his office would continue to work with security agencies to rid the city of the unwanted persons, adding that it is an offence to indulge the beggars who troop to the state on a daily basis to beg for alms.
On the essence of the state's rehabilitation centre at Owutu, Ikorodu, where beggars, destitutes, the mentally-challenged and drug addicts picked off from the streets are taken, Mr Badru said that the state government would continue to make provision for facilities to help rehabilitate them.
He said the mentally-unstable picked up across the state would be given adequate medical attention, while the 38 able-bodied among them suspected to be criminals have been handed over to the state task force for prosecution.
To effectively tackle the problem in the state, Mr Badru appealed to members of the public to desist from giving alms to beggars on the streets, pointing out that giving them alms would only encourage them to remain in the act which according to him has become a profession for many disguising to be beggars.
He urged members of the public to contribute their quota to the government's initiative by instead making donations to only registered orphanages, motherless babies home, churches, mosque or any other recognised social welfare institution in the state.
Adoption
On adoption and fostering, Mr Badru disclosed that many applications were received from prospective adopters, locally and internationally. He said they have been screened to determine their suitability for adopting children, with 177 granted letters of approval.
He disclosed that 126 children were adopted by members of the public, with 11 released for fostering. He added that 174 children have had their adoptions legalised through the juvenile court. Furthermore, an additional 161 babies were rescued and referred to various government homes and private orphanages.
The special adviser stated that his office was currently working on new guidelines for adoption and fostering, saying it was presently relating with some countries in respect of international adoptions. The countries are Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, France, Spain, Belgium, Denmark, Switzerland, United States of America, United Kingdom, Germany and Canada.
"International adoption gives succour to children with medical challenges," Mr Badru said, adding that screenings were conducted for international adopters who wanted to adopt children from Lagos.
He said 152 children have so far been adopted by persons from a total of 10 countries, as follows: Italy - 20; the Netherlands - 41; Spain - 15; Switzerland - 12; Denmark - 25; Belgium - eight; United States - 16; United Kingdom - eight; Germany - two, and Canada - five.
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