Lagos State Government has regretted the imprisonment of juveniles in adult prisons, which followed its policy to criminalise street hawking.

Attorney General of Lagos State and Commissioner for Justice, Adeniji Kazeem, said since the large population of juvenile in adult prison was brought to the state’s attention by a non-governmental organisation last year, it had done a lot to address the problem and was working to ensure that it did not recur.

He said, “The issue about juveniles in conflict with the law is a major issue because presently, there are so many of them. The facilities that are supposed to cater for people of this class are completely overstretched. We have one in Oregun and the other one in Idi-Araba for the girls. That’s one of the problems, there has to be massive development of additional space for these juveniles, because it’s not just about the punishment, we are reforming them so that they can be useful people in the society.

“This is an issue not only for the Ministry of Justice but also for the Ministry of Youth and Social Development. So, it is something that we are working very actively on; we are trying to ensure that these children are taken off the streets and that this mistake about them being sent wrongly to adult prisons does not occur again.

“…The task force operatives on environmental offences are very aggressive in making sure that they deliver on their mandate, in the process, they go on to sweep up a lot of people. Maybe what we have realised is that a deeper evaluation and assessment of these people that are swept up by the security service is required before they are charged to court, so that we can sift the adults from the young ones.