Lagos Bill Targets Parents Who Send Children to Beg, Offers Rehabilitation, Penalties

For countless families across Lagos, sending a child onto the street to beg has long been a desperate response to poverty. A new bill before the Lagos State House of Assembly could change that calculus entirely, pairing tougher penalties with a push toward rehabilitation.

The proposed legislation, titled the Street Begging and Street Urchins (Prohibition, Prevention and Rehabilitation) Law of Lagos State 2026, was presented to legal practitioners, civil society groups and members of the public at a hearing on Tuesday at the Lateef Jakande Auditorium in Alausa, Ikeja.

Under the bill, parents and guardians who send children onto the streets to beg could face prosecution, both under the new law and existing child-rights legislation. Anyone who engages in, procures, aids or abets begging would also be liable.

The proposed sanctions follow a three-stage approach. First-time offenders would receive a formal warning and be referred to a state-run rehabilitation centre. A second offence could bring a fine of up to N200,000, a non-custodial sentence of up to three months, or both. Repeated or more serious violations could result in up to two years in prison.

The bill also grants the Environmental Sanitation Corps Agency wide enforcement powers, including the ability to arrest suspected offenders without a warrant and seize property tied to alleged offences.

Officers would be required to profile those arrested before handing them to the police or local security units.

That reach has worried some at the hearing, who raised concerns about arbitrary arrests and how vulnerable people, especially children, might be treated during enforcement. In response, the bill explicitly bars officers from subjecting detainees to torture, inhuman treatment or unlawful detention, in keeping with constitutional protections.

Beyond punishment, the bill’s stated goal is to give families a path forward. It requires the Ministry of Youth and Social Development to set up Rehabilitation and Welfare Centres offering temporary shelter, basic literacy education, psychological counselling, and vocational and life-skills training to those taken off the streets, with the aim of helping them rebuild rather than simply disappear from public view.

House Committee Chairman on Youth, Sports and Social Development, Abiodun Orekoya, said the legislation was designed to promote public order, safety and environmental sanitation while strengthening child protection.

Deputy Speaker Mojisola Lasbat Meranda said input gathered from the public and stakeholders would help shape the bill before it moves to a third reading and, if passed, is sent to the Governor for assent.