Lagos Saves 72 Babies

Not less than 72 babies abandoned by their parents were rescued by the Lagos State Government in the last one year.

Special Adviser to the Lagos State Governor on Youth and Social Development, Dr. Enitan Dolapo Badru who made the revelation in Lagos said 38 were females while 34 were males.

He said they were picked between the months of May 2013 and April 2014.
He said two illegal orphanages, Streams of Mercy and Love of Humanity Centre, Alagbado and Bethlehem Charity, Abaranje, Ikotun were closed. The Special Adviser said 88 babies were released for adoption while 82 adoptions were legalized through courts in the ratio of 62 local, 20 international and six others.

He said that 2, 217 beggars and individuals suffering from various mental illness were arrested and evacuated from the streets by the Lagos State Government.

He said that some of them were rehabilitated while those mentally deranged are currently receiving medical attention in the various hospitals in Lagos State.

A breakdown of the figure shows that 1, 412 of those evacuated were taken to the Lagos State Rehabilitation and Training Centre, Owutu, Ikorodu where the state government has made provision to turn their lives around while 78 suspected to be criminals were handed over to the Lagos State Task Force on Environmental Sanitation and Special Offences for prosecution.

He said that operation rescue beggars from the streets is a continuous exercise and that it is done in conjunction with other security agencies to rid the streets of beggars, destitute and the mentally deranged.
Badru said 458 persons found in the streets were also handed over to their relatives while 28 children were handed over to the child protection unit for further investigation.

“Twenty-seven boys rescued from different locations in the state were handed over to the special correctional centre for boys at Oregun”, he noted, adding that 53 others are currently undergoing rehabilitation and training at the Vocational Training Centre, Isheri.

“Another 78 are receiving training at the Vocational Rehabilitation Centre for Persons with Disabilities, Owutu”, he said.
The special adviser said 212 destitute were repatriated to their states or countries of origin.