Governor orders enforcement of anti-begging law

Following increased security consciousness around the country, Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode
has ordered relevant security agencies to enforce the state’s laws on begging and street trading.

Ambode gave the order after a State Security Council Meeting on Tuesday, July 7, 2015.

This was contained in a statement released by the Secretary to the State Government, Tunji Bello.

It reads

“At the State Security Council Meeting on July 7, it was resolved that the act of street trading that has continued to hamper free flow of traffic on Lagos roads which further constitutes nuisance and security threat to law abiding citizens will no longer be tolerated.”

“Therefore, street traders and buyers will henceforth be arrested and prosecuted. The Task Force on Environmental Sanitation and Special Offences has been mandated to ensure the Law of the State against street trading is enforced to the letter.”

“We’ve had security reports on the activities of persons who pose as beggars, especially in traffic, but their sole aim is to perpetrate evil. We are putting a search light on this trend and one way to do that is to ensure that we take pre-emptive measures to forestall this development.”

The directive follows a similar ban on begging in Kaduna State after a bomb blast in Zaria killed 25 people.