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Lagos: Beggars Protest, Storm Sanwo-Olu’s Office
Over 1,000 beggars on Tuesday blocked the entrance of the Lagos State House of Assembly and the Governor’s Office to protest undue harassment and arrest by officials of the state government.
The beggars, who came in over 10 buses and seven tricycles barricaded the entrance to the Assembly and demanded that Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu addressed them, saying that they would sleep on the road if the governor did not come out.
Despite plea by government officials telling them that the governor was not around, they refused to bend and vowed to remain there until they were seen by the governor.
The protesters were armed with placards, some of which read: “Enough is enough, stop the persecution of people with disabilities,” “Save the waterfront, enforced conviction, we demand justice,”If you don’t want to see us begging on the streets, give us skills and empowerment,” “Seeing beggars all over our streets and roads is the failure of the system” and “We are tired of running without legs or eyes, give us skills and empowerment.”
The beggars were chanting ‘Allahu Akbar’ intermittently and dared the police to harass them.
A cross section of the protesters
Spokesperson of the beggars and Coordinator, Physically Challenged Empowerment Initiatives, PCEI, Mohammed Zanna, said in 2017, they protested in Alausa and refused to leave, but that many of them were arrested and taken to Majidun, which he described as a prison where they were ill-treated and manhandled by government officials.
He said without making provision, government would make laws to arrest the beggars and dumped them at Majidun, as some of them had died in the hospital and in detention.
According to him, some of the beggars had been able to purchase tricycles to do their businesses, but that now that the government had banned them, their situation had been made difficult, saying that people were now trekking from bus stops to their destinations and that some of the physically challenged among them did not have means of transportation.
He added that on 7th February, 2020, his organisation came with 500 beggars for a peaceful protest to draw the attention of the governor to the desperate situation facing members and persons living with disabilities across Lagos State whose livelihoods had been decimated and whose mobility seriously undermined by the shocking ban on tricycle riders.
“We cannot enter buses now because we cannot fight and struggle. We are seeking audience with the governor. Let them come and tell us what they want to do with us. We need skills and empowerment. We are tired of sitting at home. We are demanding to be skilled,” Zanna said.
A cross section of the protesters
“We do not want to beg on the streets. We have used our own ingenuity and resources to provide alternative livelihoods for ourselves that are more dignified, safer and productive to society. Yet, in the blink of an eye, this government is willing to destroy all we have built for ourselves and push us back into poverty and life without basic human dignity.
“We are ready to work with government to find workable alternatives through appropriate regulation of keke, special permits for People Living With Disabilities to use our keke for transportation of our members or real and immediate support for alternative livelihoods through skills training and support for PLWDs to start new businesses,” he said.
Source: Hero Magazine
The United States has delivered military supplies to Nigerian security agencies in support of ongoing operations in the country.
The United States Africa Command, AFRICOM, announced the delivery in a post on X on Tuesday.
“US forces delivered critical military supplies to our Nigerian partners in Abuja. This delivery supports Nigeria’s ongoing operations and emphasizes our shared security partnership,” AFRICOM said on X.
Nigeria in recent times has faced an upsurge of insecurity, with hundreds being kidnapped.
US forces launched airstrikes on terrorist enclaves in North-West Nigeria on Christmas Day.
Chief (Mrs.) Lucia Onabowale Onabanjo, the widow of Ogun State’s first civilian governor, Chief Victor Olabisi Onabanjo, has passed away at the age of 100.
Her passing was announced by her daughter, Ms Olubukunola Onabanjo, on Tuesday.
According to Ms Onabanjo, the matriarch of the Onabanjo dynasty died at the age of 100.
She said in a statement: “The family of Chief Victor Olabisi Onabanjo, former Governor of Ogun State, announces with deep sorrow, yet with gratitude to Almighty God, the passing of our beloved mother, grandmother and great-grandmother.
“Chief (Mrs) Lucia Onabowale Onabanjo (1925–2026) was called to glory on Monday, January 11.
“We thank God for her long and fulfilled life, and for the enduring legacy of love, strength and faith she leaves behind.
“May her soul rest in perfect peace.”
News
Emulate Oyebanji’s Humility: Fayose Urges Fubara To Reconcile With Wike Following Impeachment Crisis
Amid the political rivalry with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Ayodele Fayose, on Tuesday, urged Governor Sim Fubara of Rivers State to emulate his counterpart from Ekiti State, Biodun Oyebanji.
Fayose said Fubara should be like Oyebanji who once begged him for support.
Speaking in an interview, Tuesday, on Arise Television, Fayose urged Fubara to be humble to Wike because the Minister gave him the platform.
He said: “May I say this to you and to Nigerians, you brought up, like the example I have given, you brought up your child, you trained her, and somebody says I want to marry this girl.
“The credit goes to you. If you have left that girl rotten, ordinary carpenters and people who have no capacity will be chasing her.
“He must have capacity at different levels of life. Life is about level by level. God has graduated this life like a pyramid, you have Asiwaju up there, the governors, the ministers, everybody is at a level.
“You can’t tell me, majority of times, you can’t tell me a man who is down the ladder wants to marry a queen somewhere. They will tell you, you don’t have the capacity.
“So let’s go back to the issues, everybody must have helped everybody in life. But God in himself, God says I hate ingratitude. I will only fight with what I have left.
“You can’t sack Wike from Rivers politics, you can’t sack me from Ekiti politics. I’m not supposed to say what I want to say to you now and I will say it to you.
“It’s about Ekiti politics. I was in this house three years ago. The current governor of Ekiti is of the APC extraction. I am of the PDP. He came to this house, he said, leader, I would want to visit with you. I said, you’re welcome, Your Excellency.
“He came here and sat on the chair and said, Your Excellency, I want to beg you, I want you to come to my support and my aid. I want you to stand by me in this government. I didn’t go to him. He’s the governor. He deserves all honour.”
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