Woman who rented twins to beg arrested in Lagos

isaac dachen

August 4, 2016 11:37 AM

A woman who rents twin babies whom she used in begging for alms in the streets of Lagos has been arrested.

The suspect, Adiza Umoru and the twin babies

The Lagos State Ministry of Youth and Social Development has arrested a middle-aged woman,

Also Read: "In Lagos: Task force arrests 2 women using infants for alms begging"

According to a statement from the ministry, Umoru was arrested barely a week after three women were arrested by the officials of the ministry for the same offence and the Commissioner in charge of the ministry, Uzamat Akinbile-Yussuf, ordered a crackdown on such perpetrators of the crime.

The suspect, an indigene of Niger State, was nabbed while using the twin children who could not be more than two- years-old, to beg for alms at the Costain area of the state.

When she was confronted, she first claimed the kids belong to her younger sister named Aminat, was the biological mother of the babies, before she confessed that she rents the children from their mother and pays per day whenever she uses them to beg.

The ministry also stated that efforts were on to locate the real biological mother of the babies who must have fled her residence for fear of being arrested.

Also Read: "Child Abuse: 5-yr-old beggar in Gombe can't remember parents' names"

Expressing her desire to pursue a zero tolerance for begging in the state, Akinbile-Yussuf said:

“It is an established law in Lagos State; Section 168 of Criminal Code of Lagos State 2015 amended prohibiting street begging.

We don’t want anyone . We have told people times without number that it is illegal to be begging on the streets of Lagos.

If anyone wants to give, they should go to government resettlement centres.”

isaac dachen