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Abuja authorities relocate beggars to their states of origin
By Ngozi Oboh
June 30, 2011 10:46PM
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Less than 24 hours after the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) announced a review on the operations of parks and gardens in the city and directing that they should henceforth close by 6pm, the administration yesterday repatriated over 170 beggars arrested from different parts of the city to their respective states of origin.

This, according to FCTA, is part of its effort to ensure security of lives and properties in the federal capital.

The repatriated beggars, who were evicted in groups in different buses, were taken to states such as Kaduna, Kano, Bauchi, Jigawa, Nasarawa, Kogi, Kwara, Plateau and Gombe. Other states are: Enugu, Akwa Ibom, Cross River and Abia.

The repatriation exercise, which was carried out by the Society Against Prostitution and Child Labour in Nigeria (SAP-CLN) in collaboration with the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB) and Social Development Secretariat of the FCT administration, was the biggest since the exercise started months ago.

While addressing journalists at the Bwari Rehabilitation Centre where the exercise took place, Grace Adogo, coordinator of SAP-CLN, explained that based on the security state of the FCT, the beggars have to go back to their states.

“Because of the current security challenges in the FCT, the permanent secretary, Nathaniel Abiodun Olorunfemi has directed us to rid the city of the street begging and hawking which contravenes Section 36 of the AEPB Act of 1997,” she said. “The beggars, who are widely unknown and who do not have any identity, often flood traffic jam in the city carrying bags with unknown items. They even peep into peoples’ cars while begging for alms”.

Stay away

She warned the beggars not to return to the city, adding that they (beggars) would be prosecuted if arrested for the second time.

Oludare Atere, assistant director at the Social Development Secretariat of the FCTA lamented the problem posed by beggars saying that it appears to be getting complex by the day.

He added that the FCT administration would not relent in its efforts at ensuring that beggars, hawkers and commercial sex workers are removed from the street of Abuja.

Mr Atere enjoined the beggars to seek meaningful sources of livelihood when they get to their respective states of origin.

On his part, Bala Tsoho the principal, Bwari Rehabilitation Centre, expressed dismay at the unwillingness of most of the beggars to embrace the FCTA initiative to rehabilitate them at the centre.

He said this is because the beggars lack a “sense of dignity and pride.”

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Igbo beggars? This is strange.

@OP grow up of all the states mentioned is only igbo indiigenes you see okwa ya?
Benue has tiv and idoma
Kaduna have hausas, fulani and co
Kwara has yoruba
Kogi west has yoruba, Kogi east have Ebira , kogi south igala
and so on and so forth

But of cos since u have a hidden agenda it is only igbo that you see

E bu ezigbo onye ara, nkita

Have a nice day!!

@Igbopboy
Pls don't blame him. He's learning of an Igbo beggar for the first time oin his universe.

Op u are childish by singling out a tribe

It is indeed very strange to hear of Igbo beggars that must be the reason why the poster singled out only one tribe from the list

op

why call him "igbo" almajiri

an almajiri is an almajiri whether yoruba, hausa, kanuri, ijaw,or igbo so i don't support the igbo tag

secondly as i said before poverty has no tribe or culture, when people are hungry and have no choice , they beg

lastly to those that say they have not see a begger for the ethnic group, i think it is ignorance

obalede lagos has begger who are majority from the igbo stock but as i said eailer poverty has no ethnic group

so it is not strange to see an igbo, yoruba or ijaw man beg

They were evicted from abuja for 2 offence-begging and hawking. The Igbos among them were most likely hawkers.

@Otapiapia
You do have a point. The Igbos among them were most likely hawkers.

The Igbos were probably hawkers. Its not a normal sight to see an Igbo begging and even worse in a foreign land.

I dont really believe the ibos beg cuz if it gets to the worst,they'll dabble into crime just like anyone would do,
being an abuja resident,you definitelly find underage kids hawking various commodities around the city,majority of them are ibos,especially ebonyi state.
Its really not their fault,they've got to survive.

joecrack:

I dont really believe the ibos beg cuz if it gets to the worst,they'll dabble into crime just like anyone would do,
being an abuja resident,you definitelly find underage kids hawking various commodities around the city,majority of them are ibos,especially ebonyi state.
Its really not their fault,they've got to survive.

@highlighted
WELL SAID!!!

Already, turn this into an Igbo topic. Anyway, I'm not even concerned with the small bit on Igbo. I'm looking at the concept of a country deporting its own citizens. Very strange.

@Chinyen, its One big Nigeria lol

ChinenyeN:

Already, turn this into an Igbo topic. Anyway, I'm not even concerned with the small bit on Igbo. I'm looking at the concept of a country deporting its own citizens. Very strange.

Good observation.
It's only Abuja and Lagos that do these nonsense. Other states do not do it.

I don't think care who you are but what can you do?

udezue:

@Chinyen, its One big Nigeria lol

o'u kwa ya? haha.

jason123:

Good observation.
It's only Abuja and Lagos that do these nonsense. Other states do not do it.

It would be a very strange situation if FG and other states deported citizens.

ChinenyeN:

It would be a very strange situation if FG and other states deported citizens.

Chinenye, it is a very ridiculous idea!!! Imagine deporting me from Abuja IN MY COUNTRY . . .

jason123:

Chinenye, it is a very ridiculous idea!!! Imagine deporting me from Abuja IN MY COUNTRY . . .

lol i tell you fresh air will not do anything about this, to mr jonathan it is normal for states to deport people from another state even if they are in 1 country

Those people are already back in Abuja.

States in Nigeria are beginning to act like they're a country on their own. Who deports citi1ens from one state to the other.One Nigeria indeed.

afam4eva:

States in Nigeria are beginning to act like they're a country on their own. Who deports citi1ens from one state to the other.One Nigeria indeed.

LOL. Thought it started in 1966?

afam4eva:

States in Nigeria are beginning to act like they're a country on their own. Who deports citi1ens from one state to the other.One Nigeria indeed.

the question is

IS MR PRESIDENT NOT SEEING THIS RUBBISH TREND THAT IS GOING ON ?

very soon port harcount too will deport

I heard Mayor Bloomberg in New York was trying to send homeless people to their home states though so it has been done outside of Nigeria

Can you post a source? And that mayor bloomberg did it doesn't make it right.

afam4eva:

Can you post a source? And that mayor bloomberg did it doesn't make it right.

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/29/mayor-defends-one-way-tickets-for-homeless/

July 29, 2009, 12:40 PM
[b]Mayor Defends One-Way Tickets for Homeless
[/b]By JULIE BOSMAN and MICHAEL BARBARO

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg defended a city program to send homeless families out of New York on planes, trains and buses on Wednesday, saying it “saves the taxpayers of New York City an enormous amount of money.”

Speaking in the Blue Room in City Hall to announce a new finance commissioner, Mr. Bloomberg was asked if the program simply shifts the homelessness program to a different place, as some critics of the program have suggested.

“I don’t know, when they get to the other places, whether they find jobs,” Mr. Bloomberg said. “It may be an easier place for them. If we don’t — we either have two choices. We can do this program or pay an enormous amount of money daily to provide housing.”

It costs the city about $36,000 a year to provide shelter for a homeless family. The average stay in shelter is about nine months.

But Mr. Bloomberg appeared sensitive to the image of flying homeless families to far-flung places, as the program is set up to do. In the past two years, families have been provided one-way tickets to Haiti, Peru, Mexico City, St. Croix, Trinidad and Tobago, Ukraine, Santo Domingo and Casablanca. (The most popular destinations are Puerto Rico, Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas.)

“The average cost is trivial,” Mr. Bloomberg said. “Most go by bus. Very few go overseas, very few go long distances. Bus is the normal ways we pay for transportation, rather than air.”

In fact, the most common mode of travel for families in the program is air, not bus. Forty-eight percent travel by airplane; 37 percent by bus; and 15 percent by train, according to city data.

For the Igbos it is also likely they are prostitutes.
On the other hand slums were raided by law enforcement agents.Such can result in expelling squaters.While i can tell you yes,there are Igbo beggars.Met one last week around Ceddi.I have met some in various cases too.Then i know also in wuse market some go round singing in Igbo(mostly religious songs).
Compared to the North,I would say the North has more beggars.while Prostitution,Igbos and ND offers more than the North.
So do Igbos have beggars in Abuja ?Definitely.
I don't mean to insult anyone.I think the Government rather has failed its citizenry in terms of welfare and employment.They made Abuja expensive and also made Employment difficult.With policies that hardly considered the larger block of Nigerians.What ever policy they have should accommodate most Nigerians!
Those slums could have civil servants.Since salaries i tell you can not pay for anything good in Abuja.

How can there not be Igbo beggars?
It is a matter of numbers
10 Igbo:1000 Yoruba:10000 hausa fulani. That will be the ratio of beggars from the 3 major groups in any Nigerian city

I have never seen Igbo beggars. Hawkers. . . Yes but never begging.

Igbo man has no time to beg. There is no money to be made, because the Hausa already control that "market."

nawa oo so abuja too don dey deport people   ,this country dey make me laugh ,that means  each state is a country of its own.

op why single out igbo ,anyways you should know they are hawkers especially around the market area , FG wants abuja to be like london whileevery other state remain ghetto.

bashr4:

nawa oo so abuja too don dey deport people   ,this country dey make me laugh ,that means  each state is a country of its own.

op why single out igbo ,anyways you should know they are hawkers especially around the market area , FG wants abuja to be like london whileevery other state remain ghetto.

gbammmmm

thank you