22nd June, 2011
The Lagos State Taskforce on Environment and Special Offences (Enforcement Unit) stormed Mile 12 area of Lagos, South West Nigeria on Tuesday and arrested 19 suspected area boys as they were smoking Indian hemp at a joint in the area.
The arrest of the area boys is sequel to the declaration of zero tolerance for their activities in the state by the Lagos State Government.
Officials of the taskforce acted on a tip off that some street urchins had been tormenting people in the area and that they were being harboured at an Indian hemp joint at Mile 12 area.
Armed policemen swung into action and arrested the 19 area boys who were caught smoking in the early hours of the day.
Chairman, Lagos Taskforce, Supol Bayo Sulaiman, when contacted, told P.M.NEWS that the state government had declared zero tolerance for area boys, saying that it was no longer business as usual.
According to him, with the declaration of zero tolerance for area boys, the taskforce would now arrest street urchins anywhere they are found as some of them pose security threat to the society.
He said the area boys had been molesting innocent Lagosians for too long and that people in the area had begun to complain bitterly about their activities which include extorting money from them.
Sulaiman told PM NEWS that the suspected area boys would be charged to court today.
He disclosed that the crackdown on area boys would be a continuous exercise and warned other street urchins to beware as the taskforce could come any time and unannounced to arrest them.
“Miscreants should stay away from Lagos because we have begun massive enforcement of the law to arrest them,†he warned.
—Kazeem Ugbodaga