The state Commissioner for Youth, Sports and Social Development, Mr. Opeyemi Bamidele disclosed in a statement signed by the ministry's head, press and public relations Olufunmilayo Salami yesterday, that the children, who have been under the care of the state government for about six months, were picked up by the ministry's social welfare officers on the streets and under the bridges of Lagos.

According to Bamidele, over 35 court orders have been obtained to return the children, whose ages range from eight to 17 years, to their respective states through their liaison offices in Lagos.

The children, he said, are at present in the state's Transit Social Welfare Institutions which include Boys Remand Home, Oregun; Girls' Remand Home, Idi Araba and Children Transit Home, Idi Araba.

The repatriation exercise, he explained is coming after several appeals by the State Government of the children through the electronic and print media, so that the parents or guardians would come and claim them.

He noted that investigations by the ministry's officials had revealed that most of the children absconded from their respective states to Lagos and are engaging in all sorts of demeaning jobs to eke out a living, while others who were brought by their relatives to Lagos could either not retrace their relatives addresses or were sent packing from home because of their delinquent habits.

Child abuse on the part of parents or guardians he said, is one of the major reasons children are always on the run from home. He also disclosed that the state has been divided into six zones to ensure proper evacuation of destitute, beggars and street children.

However, he said the ministry would soon approach the state Ministry of Justice on the need to institute legal action against parents who have rebuffed appeals by the ministry over the custody of their delinquent children.

The refusal of such parents, Bamidele said, is hampering efforts by the ministry to accommodate more delinquent and street children.

He said, forthwith, the state would not condone children being brought out into the metropolis to serve as guides for beggers, noting that, the ministry will continue the present raids on street children who prowl the metropolis hawking all sorts of articles during the day and sleep under the bridges at night.

Government is renewing its efforts towards ensuring that this group of children no longer put their lives in danger by meandering in between vehicular traffic because of the pittance they realise being on the street, the commissioner declared.

He said the state government is determined to ensure that homeless children are either re-united with their parents or are given educational or vocational training, which will guarantee a better future for them.

In a related development, the ministry has started meetings with representatives of the Arewa, Igbo and Yoruba communities in Lagos in a bid to enlist their support on the ongoing drive of the state government to reduce the incidence of street children and begging on Lagos streets.

A breakdown of the children listed shows that nine are from Benin Republic, one from Togo, seven from Oyo State, five each from Akwa Ibom , and Cross River, four from Delta, three from Ogun, two each from Edo and Enugu and one each from Plateau, Rivers, Kogi, Ekiti, Ondo and Abia.