· Minister vows, ‘no going back’ as 326 arrested
· ‘You will tire,’ beggars mock
· Over 1,400 arrested since 2007
By Sarah NEGEDU
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, and beggars are on a collision course over plans by the Federal Capital Territory Administration to force them off the territory.
Last week, the taskforce to rid the capital city of beggars commenced operations with the beggars vowing to wear the minister and the taskforce out in the long run.
Wike had on October 22 issued a 5-day ultimatum to street beggars to leave the capital city or be apprehended by law enforcement agents for constituting nuisance and security threat.
The minister, who insisted that street begging was fueling insecurity in the FCT, pointed that the act was becoming embarrassing to the seat of power, as the population of beggars has been on the increase.
Accordingly, a combined task force of Police, Military, DSS, NSCDC, and other paramilitary agencies were deployed to different locations to fish out beggars in Abuja.
Though the team has since begun raiding red spots in the city, their approach may not have been very effective considering that many beggars are still retaining their spots across the city.
The Abuja Inquirer exclusively gathered that a total of 326 beggars have been arrested since the clampdown began on October 28.
A source in the enforcement team, Operation Sweep, told our correspondent that all 326 beggars are currently being kept at the FCT Vocational Rehabilitation Center in Bwari, pending report of a needs assessment to determine the next line of action.
This reporter went round some of the hot spots over the weekend, and noticed beggars in their numbers, along the Southern Parkway by the National Mosque to the CBN stretch of the road.
Their activities also extended to the AYA Asokoro area, where a number of them were seen soliciting for alms.
Some of the beggars, who spoke to our correspondent, say the current economic situation in the country has made it impossible for them to stay off the roads.
One of them, Yau Mainasara, maintained that the only way to keep beggars off the road is to engage them in a trade of their choice and not by forceful eviction.
Mainasara, who said he was aware of the ban by the FCT administration, however asked how the government expects the beggars to survive without an alternative.
“All of us are aware that the government is going round arresting beggars, but the truth is it is going to be difficult for us to stay away because this is where we feed ourselves and families from.
“Most of us rely on the kindness of strangers for survival. With the economy in such dire straits, how do we survive on our own if no alternative is provided for us.
Another beggar, who gave his name as Ado, said most beggars have some forms of disabilities that limits the kinds of business they can venture into.
He said the only way to keep them off the streets is to provide them with some form of social safety net.
“I can assure you many of us will still return. As it is we have studied the trend and a lot of our people have gone to temporal hiding or migrated to the satellite towns, but they will be back as soon as the tempo reduces.
“Many of us begging didn’t choose this path because we like it, but it’s has been destined for us. Most of us are disabled and can’t fit into most trades. So, what does the government expect us to do? To wait until we starve?
“No, we will always beg because that’s our destiny except government starts paying us some stipends, there’s no way you wouldn’t find beggars on the streets, especially we the disabled.”
A social worker, Gift Acheneje, said the clampdown on beggars is not sustainable given their history of always returning to the streets, especially in the FCT.
While chronicling similar raids in the past, Acheneje called on government to engage them in trades and other vocations they can sustain themselves with.
“We must be sincere to ourselves, you and I know that the beggars will surely return. Whatever they achieve so far is only temporary because survival is a natural instinct of man. These people are already at disadvantage and you want to further push them down. They will kick.
“The issue is not just making declaration or saying you ban these people off the streets. The issue is what are you doing to ensure that they don’t return to the streets. You know, like the ‘teach me to fish, and not giving me fish principles’.
“Government must put modalities in place to discourage street begging. We should have some sort of Vocational training for them and connect them to the market and not just asking them to leave the streets.
“If they leave begging, how would they feed? Those are the issues and government must look at it holistically.”
Several attempts have been made in the past to rid the capital city of street beggars.
The Nasiru El-Rufai administration had several times during his tenure between 2003 and 2007, rid the city of beggars and repatriated a large number of them to their various states.
His successor, Aliyu Umar, had between 2007 and 2008 arrested and repatriated 395 beggars to their states while 113 were prosecuted.
Adamu Aliero, who was the minister between 2008 and 2010, also banned street begging and raised a 150-member corps to arrest offenders, while under Bala Muhammad, there was a clampdown on beggars. In July 2014, 172 beggars were arrested.
The immediate past Minister, Muhammad Bello, had in May and September 2016, banned the activities of beggars and hawkers.
While he was in office, over 200 beggars were arrested and returned to their states.
Watchers fear that the Wike-led administration may suffer the same fate especially given the current economic hardship in the country.
