Over hundred beggars and mentally challenged people have been picked up from parts of Onitsha and Awka by the Anambra State Government.
The operation was carried out by a joint task force led by the Ministry of Social Welfare, Children and Women Affairs.
The apprehended beggars, operating at Onitsha Main Market, Bridge Head, Upper Iweka, and UNIZIK junction Awka, were mostly women, most of who faked their impairments and used ‘hired’ children to carry out their ‘business’, with a woman using as many as four kids.
The raid, which began last year, is part of the initiatives of the Anambra state government to rid the streets of beggars and mentally challenged persons who are taken to the Nteje Rehabilitation Center for treatment and re-union with their families.
The Commissioner for Social Welfare, Children and Women Affairs, Lady Ndidi Mezue, whose Ministry is spearheading the activity said, the apprehended beggars who are not from Anambra State would be officially repatriated to their home states, while sustained efforts are on ground to ensure that those picked up would not go back to the streets.
The Commissioner also provided a wheelchair for one of the children who is physically impaired.
The Commissioner for Transport, Honourable Uchenna Okafor, who also took part in the exercise, said the present leadership of Governor Willie Obiano was keen on ensuring absolute sanity on major parts of the state, and noted that those picked up would be examined to sort out the genuinely sick ones from the fakers.
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