A viral video showing operatives of the Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps (LAGESC) manhandling persons with disabilities during a raid on street beggars in the state has sparked outrage.
In the video which has been widely circulated on social media, LAGESC officials were seen picking up persons with disabilities who could not walk and dumping them inside a waiting police van.
Reacting to the video in an interview, the Chairman of the National Association of Persons with Physical Disabilities (FCT Chapter) and Executive Director, JOMIDA Foundation for Persons with Disabilities, Comrade Chris Agbo, described the action as dehumanising and inhuman.
Agbo said while the Lagos State Government may have laws prohibiting begging and staying in unauthorized places, it has a responsibility to provide for vulnerable groups, especially persons with disabilities.
“In as much as Lagos State Government will have some laws prohibiting begging and people staying in unauthorised places, they should know that all these people, it’s still the responsibility of the state to make provisions for them, especially those who are vulnerable like persons with disabilities,” he said.
He faulted the method of arrest, questioning why officials would pick up and fling persons who cannot walk into a van.
“My worry is not even that they are arresting them, but the way and manner they arrested them. How can you be taking someone who cannot even walk, you pick up the person and you’re flinging the person inside a Black Maria. This is the height of dehumanisation I’ve ever seen.
“This is inhuman treatment. It’s a kind of treatment that you cannot even treat animals that way. People who even pack fowls, they don’t even pack their fowls like that, the way you’re packing human beings,” Agbo stated.
According to him, most persons with disabilities resort to begging not by choice but because the system has failed them.
“The system has made life very difficult for them. If they are properly engaged, they won’t be on the streets begging. The roads, the transportation system, they cannot access. 98% of public buildings are not accessible. The opportunities are not there. They can’t do Okada, they can’t do Keke. The only thing they can resort to is to beg,” he added.
Agbo condemned the action and called on the Lagos State Government to investigate the officials involved and ensure they face appropriate punishment.
“We, as persons with disabilities, as leaders of persons with disabilities in Nigeria, we condemn that particular act. There’s no justification whatsoever for that act,” he said.
He urged the Lagos State Government to adopt more humane approaches to addressing street begging, including social security allowances, accessible transportation with waivers, free education, inclusive employment with tax incentives for companies that employ persons with disabilities, and accessible low-interest loans and inclusive procurement.
Meanwhile, the Lagos State Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, in a post on his Facebook page, confirmed the operation.
According to Wahab, a total of 62 individuals, comprising 29 street beggars and 33 children allegedly being exploited for street begging, were apprehended by operatives of the Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps during an enforcement operation in the Ajah and Lekki areas of Lagos State.
He stated that they have all been transferred to the appropriate authorities for necessary action.
The Lagos State Government and LAGESC regularly conduct enforcement operations and crackdowns against street begging, which often involve removing or arresting individuals, including people with disabilities, from public areas like Ajah, Lekki, Ikosi Ketu, and Mile 12.
