In a bid to make Oyo State comfortable for business investors, the state government on Thursday arrested 48 destitute people on the streets.
The state’s Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Inclusion, Alhaja Fausat Joke Sanni, while on duty tour of Iwo road roundabouts and the pedestrian bridge at Mokola picked the destitute people comprising children, women and men.
The Commissioner who was accompanied by the Permanent Secretary, Mrs Christiana Abioye and some directors of the Ministry said the exercise was to rid the streets of destitute people and to rehabilitate them if possible.
She said: “This programme will be a continuous exercise because anytime they are sighted on the streets, we will come back for them or we will come back to rid the streets of such destitute people.
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“This is the vision of Oyo State governor, Engineer Seyi Makinde to get the children and destitute people off the streets and that why we are here today.
“Many of them can be rehabilitated, if they want to learn a trade or go back to school, the governor is ready to support them and we are going to report at our police stations so that they can give us clearance to take them to rehabilitation centres,” she said.
The commissioner appealed to parents to take care of their children and not live them on the streets to beg to say the government is doing a lot to provide free books, free education and free health.
“In the line of this, we do not expect any of our children to be on the streets, so, I appeal to parents to please keep their children at home and take care of them.”
Sanni later visited the Oyo State Commandant, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Abiodun Akinsanya to seek more support.
Akinsanya in his remark said they will not hesitate to do more for the ministry likewise Oyo State government as a whole.
He said one can only be better if children of nowadays brought up properly well.
He said at the Security Council we have discussed this issue which I believe will be a thing of the past in Oyo State.
“I want to assure you that the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps we will do more in making the state better.”
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