No fewer than 12 street urchins were arrested by Lagos State Taskforce on Environment and Special Offences Unit while smoking India hemp at Mile 12 recently.

This was disclosed by the unit Chairman, Supol Bayo Sulaiman, adding that 217 hoodlums were also arrested in Oshodi during a raid that began by 3: 00 a.m last  week.

According to him, the miscreants had since been arraigned before the Special Offences Court sitting in Alausa for allegedly constituting nuisance and threat to the state, an offence punishable under the Law of Lagos State.

He explained that the raid lasted for about two hours in the early hours and that some of those arrested said they were not from Lagos and that they came to the state to seek greener pasture.

He said it became necessary to embark on the exercise so that the state government could rid Lagos metropolis of street urchins, some of whom had become armed robbers over the years.

He said, “the government is determined to rid the state of area boys and make it safe for the citizens. The era where area boys hold people to ransom was over.”

He, however, said that the taskforce would liaise with the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Social Development so that non-indigene among the hoodlums could be repatriated to their various states.