In a controversial turn of events, officers from the Kick Against Indiscipline (KAI) unit in Lagos arrested Sarah Martins, founder of the Golden Heart Foundation, while she was cooking free meals for homeless and vulnerable people on the median of Admiralty Way, Lekki Phase 1.
According to eyewitnesses and video circulating online, Martins had set up cooking pots and was preparing Jollof rice and other meals to distribute when KAI officers approached.
The officers seized her cooking equipment and other supplies, citing violations of Lagos State’s environmental sanitation and public hygiene regulations.
In the course of the operation, Martins is said to have sustained minor burns to her hand after hot oil spilt during what she describes as a chaotic scuffle.
Video footage posted on X shows her hand swelling and appearing coated in a liquid substance believed to be hot oil.
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Passersby and members of the crowd strongly criticised the officers’ handling of the incident. One bystander was heard shouting, “They came here, packed everything, and poured her hot oil,” claiming that the actress was operating “for free.”
Martins was taken into custody but was later released that same evening without facing formal charges. In her public remarks after release, Martins identified herself as the head of the Golden Heart Foundation, a registered non-profit that conducts regular outreach efforts, cooking meals on the streets and providing empowerment programs for street youths.
She lamented the treatment she received, saying the seizure of her supplies disrupted her charitable mission. The Lagos State Government, through its Senior Special Assistant on New Media, Jubril Gawat, confirmed that the operation was part of ongoing efforts to maintain cleanliness in the city.
In a post on X, Gawat criticised the use of a public median for cooking, stating, “This lady claims she is ‘cooking for charity’ and she is using the median around Admiralty, Lekki Phase 1 as her ‘kitchen’. The KAI officials have arrested her with all her equipment and cleaned up the whole axis.”
The incident has generated widespread debate and strong reactions on social media. Some Nigerians condemned the enforcement action as excessive and inhumane, arguing that a more diplomatic approach should have been adopted.
Others defended the KAI action, saying that public hygiene and order must be preserved, and that cooking on a roadway median posed legitimate safety and environmental concerns.
Questions linger, however, over the balance between compassion and regulation: when charitable acts collide with enforcement policies, how should authorities and citizens negotiate public interest, public order, and civil space?
