LASRRA warns agents against charging residents for registration

The General Manager of LASRRA, Bilikis Adebiyi-Abiola.

The Lagos State Residents Registration Agency has warned its registration agents against collecting money from residents for LASRRA registration, insisting that the exercise is completely free. The General Manager of LASRRA, Bilikis Adebiyi-Abiola, gave the warning on Thursday during a community sensitisation programme in Ajah, Lagos, where she urged residents to report any agent demanding payment for the registration.

Adebiyi-Abiola said the agency operated a zero-tolerance policy towards agents who collected money from residents, adding that registration was a free service provided by the Lagos State Government. “We have a zero-tolerance policy for any agent who is collecting money because LASRRA is absolutely free. If you notice, in every single one of our stations, we have a sign that says, ‘LASRRA is free’,” she said.

The LASRRA boss urged residents who were asked to pay for the service to report such agents to the agency for appropriate action, stressing that there was no justification for charging residents.

“There is no reason whatsoever for anybody to collect money from anyone because the government has made this a free service and it’s free,” she said. She said the agency had intensified community-based registration to make it easier for residents to register, noting that LASRRA officials were visiting communities, schools and vaccination clinics instead of waiting for residents to visit its offices. According to her, registration begins from birth, adding that LASRRA had upgraded its software and devices to enable the agency to register newborn babies without physically handling them.

Adebiyi-Abiola said the agency currently had about seven million residents in its database but was implementing several initiatives to increase the figure. She explained that LASRRA had begun working with the Office of Education Quality Assurance to extend registration to private schools, while pupils in public schools already required LASRRA registration. The general manager said the agency was also targeting markets, offices and other communities because a lack of awareness and the busy lifestyles of Lagos residents had contributed to low registration. She said registration was important because residents needed LASRRA identification to access various Lagos State Government services and programmes.

Adebiyi-Abiola added that LASRRA had provided 50 slots at the ongoing Lagos State Trade Fair for registered residents as part of efforts to demonstrate the benefits of being captured in the state’s residents’ database. In his reaction, the monarch of Okun Ajah Kingdom, Oba Kolawole Olumegbon, commended LASRRA for taking its sensitisation campaign to residents, saying the registration had helped the government better understand the needs of communities. Olumegbon said infrastructure development in the area had improved significantly, adding that residents’ registration provided the government with useful information for planning and delivering social amenities. “There is a tremendous improvement, especially when it comes to infrastructural development that has happened in this axis. All thanks to the number of people who have registered through LASRRA and it helps the government to determine and know what they need for the people,” he said.

The monarch stressed that the essence of the registration was to enable the government to understand residents’ welfare needs and plan appropriately to meet them. “The essence of this registration through LASRRA is for the government to know our welfare and how to take care of us. So, that’s why it’s very important to register with LASRRA,” he said. Olumegbon urged residents who had yet to register to do so, while encouraging those already registered to educate others about the importance of the exercise. “I enjoin everyone to go fast and register with LASRRA. Even as you can see, some of us are not even aware that a day-old baby can be registered. “If you have registered, you need to tell people who have not registered that there is immense benefit in registering with LASRRA,” he concluded.