By Eunice Orike
A combined team of Security Agencies made up of the Nigeria Police, Department of State Services, DSS, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, the Military, on Monday arrested 15 beggars and 19 scavengers across the Nation’s capital.
It should be recalled that the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike, had recently warned that beggars and miscreants would be cleared from the streets of Abuja.
The FCT Police Commissioner, Olatunji Disu who, addressed the operatives, described the operation as a national assignment, adding that officers involved in the enforcement must show professionalism in carrying out the order of the Minister.
Disu noted that the operations would last two weeks, after which the strategies would be reevaluated and reinvigorated.
He said “this operation will last for the first two weeks. We will come back and assess our achievements, then we will go back if there is a need for us to continue it”.
Speaking on the operations, the Director, FCTA Security Services Department, Adamu Gwari said the operations would be conducted day and night in order to achieve the desired results.
The Director who was represented by Dr. Peter Olumuji explained that the first day of the operations had four groups which were assigned to different routes, namely; the metro, which is the city centre, the airport road that covers the entire airport road from city gates up to Bill Clinton road, the Kubwa axis that covers the Kubwa, Gwarimpa up to Dei Dei and Asokoro, AYA, Nyanya, Karu, Jikwoyi.
He disclosed that while no beggar was arrested in the city centre, because they have all gone into hiding, the operations successfully arrested 15 beggars and 19 scavengers from different locations.
“We realised that most of them actually heard the voice of the Minister. Notwithstanding, we have one or two that are still trying to test the water, and we have been able to apprehend them. We also have 15 beggars and 19 scavengers that we have picked up in various sectors and we are still counting”, he said.
In his own speech, the Head of Enforcement, Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEBP), Kaka Bello said the operations was not just about beggars, but sanitizing the city of every nuisance.
Bello noted that roadside traders and all technicians who operate at all illegal places would be touched and evacuated during this Ministerial Operations in Abuja.
On what becomes the fate of the arrested beggars, the Director Social Welfare, FCTA, Dr. Sani Rabe, said they would be taken to government’s rehabilitation centre located at Kuchikon, Bwari Area council, where they would be properly profiled.
According to him, those who are trainable would be given the opportunity to learn some skills for personal empowerment, while those who are not willing to acquire skills would be repatriated to their states of origin.