Osogbo residents demand urgent action against street hawking

Some residents of Osogbo, on Wednesday, called on the state government to stop hawking on the streets in the town.

They expressed concern about the safety of hawkers, who they said, were mainly school children and urged the state government to curtail the dangerous trend.

Pastor James Ajayi, a resident, who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at Ola-Iya area of the town, said that the number of minors hawking in the area was worrisome.

Ajayi said that the recent strike embarked upon by workers in the state aggravated the menace as public schools were closed.

He urged the state government to resolve labour issues with dispatch and take decisive actions to put an end to hawking by school children.

Mrs Adejoke Afuape, a public school teacher in the town, flayed parents who allowed their children to hawk on the streets.

“I make bold to say that the harsh economic condition in the state is not in any way an excuse to send a child to hawk.

“I am imploring parents to be careful and not jeopardise the life of their children in the course of trying to eke a living,” Afuape said.

Mrs Olayinka Adisa, a child rights activist, also called on the state government to make hawking on the street a serious offence.

“Inasmuch as I sympathise with the people of Osun over the harsh economic situation in the state, we should not risk the lives of our children in the name of making money.

“Government should give it a priority and hawking on the highway a serious offence,” she said.