Lagos Crackdown on Street Beggars Heats Up: Ketu Roads Cleared in Bold Urban Renewal Push
By Sam Michael
In the heart of Nigeria’s commercial powerhouse, authorities descended on Lagos’ chaotic streets like a sudden storm, hauling away beggars and nuisances to restore order to one of Africa’s busiest corridors. This aggressive Lagos beggars crackdown signals a no-holds-barred approach to street begging that’s sparking both cheers and controversy.
Lagos State officials kicked off the beggars crackdown on Wednesday, November 12, 2025, targeting the Ketu-Alapere district—a vital artery for commuters and commerce. Under the banner of the Cleaner Lagos initiative, the Ketu clearance operation saw teams from the Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps (LAGESC) swarm major roads and medians, rounding up individuals accused of obstructing traffic and littering public spaces. This urban renewal Nigeria effort isn’t just about aesthetics; it’s a calculated strike against the persistent menace of street begging that clogs thoroughfares and fuels petty crime.
Eyewitnesses described a scene straight out of a high-stakes drama: Black Maria vans idling curbside as officers, clad in crisp uniforms, escorted dozens—including a mother in hijab cradling an infant—from their roadside posts. By midday, the grassy medians that once teemed with outstretched hands stood eerily empty, a testament to the operation’s efficiency. No exact tally emerged from the day’s sweep, but past raids in similar hotspots nabbed over 1,000 vulnerable souls annually, many funneled into rehabilitation centers.
The push traces back to longstanding battles against urban decay in Lagos, Africa’s most populous city with over 20 million residents. Street begging exploded post-pandemic, exacerbated by economic woes like soaring inflation and job scarcity. Back in December 2024, a parallel sting in upscale Ikoyi and Lekki snagged 17 suspects, including minors, highlighting how syndicates traffic people—even children—from northern states to Lagos’ lucrative begging circuits. Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s administration has ramped up these drives, framing them as essential to the state’s “Greater Lagos” vision: a sleek megacity rivaling global hubs like New York or Dubai.
Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, didn’t mince words in a post on X, declaring, “This exercise is part of our ongoing efforts to maintain order, ensure free flow of traffic, and keep our public spaces clean and safe for all. Every part of Lagos must reflect the standard of a Cleaner Lagos and a Greater Lagos.” Arrested individuals face profiling before handover to social services, with promises of counseling and job training to break the cycle.
Not everyone’s applauding the heavy hand. Urban planner Dr. Aisha Bello, a Lagos-based expert with the African Cities Research Consortium, warns that such sweeps risk “pushing the invisible further into shadows” without addressing root causes like mental health gaps and poverty. Human rights groups, echoing global concerns, point to Nigeria’s 2016 begging bans that led to mass detentions—over 1,340 “rescues” in one year alone, per state reports—often without due process. On social media, reactions split sharply: Commuters hailed the Ketu clearance as a “breath of fresh air” for safer drives, while activists decried it as “inhumane theater,” urging investment in shelters over sirens. One viral tweet read, “Clear streets, but where do the broken go? #LagosBeggarsCrackdown.”
For U.S. readers, this Lagos street begging saga hits close to home through the lens of the Nigerian diaspora—home to over 400,000 Nigerian-Americans fueling $25 billion in annual remittances to Africa. A tidier Lagos could supercharge trade ties, from tech startups in Yaba’s “Silicon Savannah” drawing Silicon Valley cash to tourism luring adventure seekers. It also offers sobering parallels for American cities grappling with homelessness: Think San Francisco’s tenderloin or LA’s skid row, where crackdowns clash with compassion. As U.S. firms eye Nigeria’s $500 billion economy, a stable Lagos means smoother investments—and perhaps policy blueprints for balancing enforcement with empathy.
The operation’s ripple effects extend beyond borders, underscoring how one city’s quest for order reshapes lives on a continental scale. With more sweeps pledged under the Cleaner Lagos banner, Lagos teeters between transformation and tension, a microcosm of urban Africa’s high-stakes gamble.
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