The Chairman of Lagos State Taskforce, SP Olayinka Egbeyemi has revealed that a lot of beggars on streets of Lagos are people, who pretend to be sick to deceive innocent people and get money from them. He said this while parading a 40-year-old female suspect Chinagoro Uwenke and her 11-year-old son Sunny, at the Oshodi area of the state.


He said the woman had faked that her son had an injury. The taskforce chairman disclosed that there were many fake beggars pretending and deceiving innocent members of the public with different illnesses and diseases.

“The rate at which these fake beggars operate in the state calls for concern. That is why the Agency is collaborating with relevant government Ministries, Agencies and Departments to get rid of these beggars on the streets and roads of Lagos. The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr Fatai Owoseni has directed that the suspect be immediately charged to court,” he said.

The suspect who confessed to the crime said that she bandaged her son’s leg with two rolls of white bandages and poured Gentian Violet (GV) on the leg every day to deceive members of the public to give alms to the boy.

Uwenke explained that she abruptly stopped her son’s education at a junior secondary level for street begging when she realised that she can make between N3,500 and N5,000 daily.

The suspect who stays at Oyingbo, pleaded with the government not to charge her to court, saying she was ready to go back to her town and re-unite with her family voluntarily.