POLICEMEN from the Ejigbo station on Wednesday arrested five able-bodied individuals, who feigned to be beggars at Jakande bus-stop, Ejigbo. They were arrested and whisked away alongside their children, after resisting several warnings to vacate the area and desist from the act.

According to an eyewitness, who spoke to The Guardian, Kingsley Obiora, the beggars have constituted themselves into a nuisance at the bus-stop, daily harassing passersby for alms. “Able-bodied people who were suppose to work with their own hands to earn a living have turned themselves to beggars due to laziness. And the worst of it all is using their children who should be in school as accomplice,” he said.

Obiora added that they have severally been warned to stop begging for alms from people, and instead look for something gainful to do, while also enrolling their children in school, but they refused.

A police source confirmed the development, saying that the police swung into action after incessant complaints from passersby and traders at the bus-stop. According to the source, there have been reports of harassment and theft, suspected to be from the people who loiter all day at the bus-stop with nothing to do.