Some families including their children are at risk of disease outbreak as they take shelter under the bridge in the Arepo area of the Obafemi Owode Local Government Area of Ogun State.

Our correspondent who visited the Arepo Underbridge along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway on Friday and Saturday nights observed that some children whose ages range from four to seven years slept under the bridge with their parents and other relatives.

During the day, the children loitered around the bridge as they ran after motorists and passersby to beg for alms.

Mattresses and mats were seen rolled up during the day and laid at night under the bridge where the children and their parents slept. While a few of those who took shelter under the bridge had mosquito nets, others covered themselves with wrappers.

Our correspondent observed that the occupants also had cooking pots, plates, spoons, and lines for spreading clothes, suggesting they had been well-settled at the place.

One of them, a cobbler, Ibrahim Afeez, who said he came from Kano with his six children, said he could not afford to rent a house and had to settle under the bridge.

“If you want to rent a house in Arepo, they will call ‘big money,’ I don’t have. After some time, when I stabilise, I will gather money and move elsewhere with my people,” Afeez said.

A resident, Ajibola Qoyum, told PUNCH Metro that his concern was security.

“If they don’t constitute a nuisance or pose a security threat, I don’t have a problem with them, but that place is not ideal for anyone to reside. They have been there for years and I think everyone is already used to them. They are also at the under bridge at Magboro Bus Stop,” Qoyum said.

Another resident identified simply as Ewatomi wondered why the settlers would say they didn’t have money for rent.

Ewatomi said, “They came from somewhere, why can’t they go back or what was their mission when they were coming?”

A Professor of Public Health, Tanimola Makanjuola, in an interview with PUNCH Metro said the children and their families were at risk of infections.

“Homeless people are exposed to a lot of health challenges as a result of their physical and social environments. They are exposed to weather conditions like cold and hot seasons, which expose them to skin diseases, and problems with the extremities like their feet. They usually also face hunger and undernutrition.

“The weather also makes them suffer from infectious diseases with respiratory tract infections, diarrhea diseases, and malaria, among others,” says Makanjuola, a Professor of Public Health at the University of Ilorin, Ilorin and a Consultant Public Health Physician at the university’s teaching hospital.

He added that the young ones were often sexually abused, saying “The social environment often pushes them to have mental health challenges. They also face the risk of injuries from road accidents.”

On his part, the Chairman, Obafemi Owode Local Government Area, Adesina Ogunsola, when contacted, said he would ask the Divisional Police Officer to visit the area and ascertain the state of things.

“I will ask the DPO in that area to go there and see things,” the chairman said on Sunday. (The PUNCH)

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