Anambra Clamps Down on Child Beggars, Syndicates
Fed up with the recalcitrance of those who use under aged children for begging despite several warnings, the Anambra State Ministry of Women’s Affairs and Social Welfare, in collaboration with the Awka Capital Territory Development Authority (ACTDA), last Wednesday carried out a raid on child beggars and the syndicates behind it at Aroma-Under Bridge. The place has become notorious with the presence of all manner of child beggars ranging from below one year to three and above years, reports Jude Atupulazi.
Addressing journalists after the operation, the Commissioner for Women’s and Social Welfare, Mrs. Ify Obinabo, expressed deep concern that school-age children were being denied their right to education and instead exploited as beggars and petty thieves by those she described as unscrupulous individuals. This is happening despite Governor Chukwuma Soludo’s provision of free basic education in the state, she noted.
Mrs. Obinabo stressed that the state government would not tolerate such activities anywhere within Anambra and was committed to tracking down those responsible for sending those children to beg. She also disclosed that similar raids would be carried out across the state.
For his part, the Managing Director of ACTDA, Mr. Ossy Onuko, explained that those beggars and others he called miscreants had repeatedly been warned, both through conventional and social media channels, to vacate the city, but they failed to comply.
Mr. Onuko emphasized that the authorities were determined to identify and prosecute the parents, guardians and syndicates behind the exploitation of the children. He reiterated that the raid was part of an ongoing effort to rid the area which he described as a key governmental zone, as well as other parts of the Awka Capital Territory, of beggars and other miscreants.
Fides reports that the Aroma Area was fast becoming the begging capital of Anambra, with the number of all manner of beggars continuing to increase each week. Often one sees children of about six months lying on wrappers and being watched by women suspected to have hired them to beg in order to curry sympathy.
Previous efforts to get them off the area only worked briefly before they returned in full force. It is left to be seen if the latest operation to chase them away from the place will work.
