COVID-19 lockdown bites Lagos' unemployed youth

The ongoing lockdown over COVID-19 is taking a huge toll on unemployed people in Lagos, Nigeria.

The infamous Lekki bridge was empty on Wednesday as most people are forced to retreat home to help curtail spread of the coronavirus.

“There are a lot of boys in the streets with different minds. Some go and steal. Because most of them can’t bear the hunger. It’s too hard. So I really need the government to say something about this. It’s not easy for us, who are in the streets. We don’t have house, no home. No place to work. Even no place to sleep, so it’s really difficult”, Solomon Ekelo, an unemployed street vendor said.

Since they've stopped my work I've not been doing anything and it's difficult for me.

Solomon Ekelo was on the streets of this affluent Lagos neighborhood with his thoughts during the lockdown.

“I am here because I’m on the streets. I don’t have any job going on, and I really need something to eat. It’s very hard here. Since they’ve stopped my work I’ve not been doing anything and it’s difficult for me. The government does not really want to do anything about it. It’s really going crazy”, Ekelo added.

Africa’s most populous nation has registered some 276 COVID-19 cases and 6 fatalities as of Thursday April 9.

Inhabitants of this nation of almost 200 million people are considered vulnerable due to failing health system and high population density.

AFP