20 Underaged Hoodlums Arrested

•The arrested hoodlums

•The arrested undergaged hoodlums

At least 20 underaged suspected hoodlums and 35 others have been arrested at Oshodi area of Lagos, southwest Nigeria.

Officials of the Lagos Taskforce on Environmental and Special Offences Unit swooped on the suspected hoodlums around 4.30 a.m. on Tuesday in Oshodi and arrested them.

They were taken away in a Black Maria to the taskforce office at Alausa, Ikeja.

The under aged suspected hoodlums are aged between 14 and 17, while one of the adult suspects, Segun Akinlade, was arrested last week, arraigned before the Special Offences Court and sentenced to 24 hours community service, but went back to the same touting.

•The arrested undergaged hoodlums
•The arrested undergaged hoodlums

Taskforce Chairman, Bayo Sulaiman, Chief Superintendent of Police, CSP, lamented that under aged children had continued to carry out nefarious activities in Oshodi, saying that they were being groomed by the adult touts to take over from them in the future.

He said officials of the Office of Youth and Social Department of the state government were invited to sort out the under aged among the suspected hoodlums and take them to remand homes in the state for rehabilitation.

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Sulaiman stated that the taskforce did not jail under aged children as being speculated in some quarters.

He added that government was determined to rid the streets of Lagos of under aged hoodlums and others.

Sulaiman debunked claims that the taskforce took some under aged children to Badagry Prision, saying such a thing never happened as government always ensured that under aged hoodlums were taken to the remand homes through the Office of Youth and Social Department.

According to him, some of the under aged children who ran away from home were always being reunited with their families.

On the fate of the other 35 suspected hoodlums, Sulaiman said they would be arraigned in court for their fate to be determined.

—Kazeem Ugbodaga

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