Osogbo residents call for urgent action against street hawking
NAN-H-19
Hawking
By Ajibola Olaniyi
Osogbo, Sep. 28, 2016(NAN) Some residents in Osogbo on Wednesday called on the state government to stop hawking along the streets in the town.
They expressed concern about the safety of hawkers, who they said, were mainly school children and urged the state government to curtail the dangerous trend.
Pastor James Ajayi, a resident who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at Ola-Iya area of the town, said that the number of minors hawking in the area was worrisome.
Ajayi said that the recent strike embarked on by workers in the state aggravated the menace as public schools were closed.
He urged the state government to resolve labour issues with dispatch and decisive actions to put an end to hawking by school children.
Mrs Adejoke Afuape, a public school teacher in the town, flayed parents who allowed their children to hawk on the streets in spite of economic situation in the state.
“I make bold to say that the harsh economic condition in the state is not in any way an excuse to send a child hawking.
“I am imploring parents to be careful and not jeopardise the life of their children in the course of looking for means of livelihood,” Afuape said.
Mrs Olayinka Adisa, a child right activist, also called on the state government to make hawking along the streets a serious offence.
“In as much as I symphatise with the people of Osun over the harsh economic situation in the state, it is pertinent not to risk the life of our children in the name of making money.
“Government should give it a priority and make hawking on the highway a serious offence,” she said. (NAN)
DOO/TA
Edited/controlled by Tajudeen Atitebi