(Video): Homeless Teenagers Sleeping On Street Of Highbrow Victoria Island Set Lagosian On Edge

Arguably the greatest challenge confronting Nigerians at the moment is insecurity.

From kidnapping for ransom, armed robbery, cattle rustling, banditry, arson to terrorism, Nigerians find it difficult to sleep with their two eyes closed irrespective of the geopolitical zone they reside.

The current spate of insecurity and the need to maintain vigilance appeared to have encouraged a motorist to record some street children sleeping along the median strip of the popular Adeolu Odeku Street in highbrow Victoria Island area of Lagos on Tuesday morning.

Quadri Taiwo, a cinematographer, who recorded the amateur footage and shared it on Twitter, called attention to the “security threat” posed by the street children.

The Herald can report that traffic robbery has become a growing menace in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial nerve centre.

Watch video:

RT @Quadritaiwo360: Homeless Alimajiri in Street of Lagos, #Lagos Security Threat @ Adeola Odeku Street Victoria Island, Lagos @Gidi_Traffic pic.twitter.com/mZEMAMUyB5

— GIDITRAFFIC (@Gidi_Traffic) May 25, 2021

However, the footage quickly generated a heated debate on the microblogging platform.

While many users described the phenomenon of street children as a symptom of governmental failure, others blamed parents and society for encouraging uncontrolled procreation.

Reacting to the video, novelist, Elnathan John wrote, “Nigeria will dehumanise you. Government will abandon you. Fellow citizens will spit at you, pathologise your poverty. Kids, homeless, out of school sleeping in the dangerous streets of Lagos in the open. What they see: a security threat.

“The only real crime in Nigeria is poverty”

Also, some commentators described the street children as victims that deserve help rather than condemnation, while others urged the state government to quickly intervene to remove the street children from the area before they become a security threat.

“Must you link innocent individuals to crime,” Nwa Ehugbo queried.

Tagging Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Anuoluwapo wrote, “Please look into this . These ones are already becoming teenagers and we all know what this means.”

“Ticking time bomb!” Adebisi wrote.