TQM report,
The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), on Tuesday, said it had arrested over 150 beggars over insecurity in Abuja.
Chairman, FCTA Ministerial Taskforce on City Sanitation, Mr Ihkaro Attah, who announced this after a combined operation with other relavant agencies, said the FCT authority had observed with dismay the alarming rate of beggars in the city throughout the Ramadan period.
According to him: “In the last two days, over 150 beggars have been apprehended across the city and more arrest is still going on.
“Some of these persons are being brought by other persons into the FCT. You will see young people guarding blind aged men, we felt that is not what the city should be.
“We also felt for them, that is why the FCTA is investing resources to train them. However, we are targeting very strongly the syndicate that always brings them to Abuja in large numbers from states across the country.
“We realized that the syndicate drops them at strategic positions in town to make money from them. FCT is going all out to get them and ensure that they are prosecuted.” He vowed.
On his part, the Head of Monitoring and Inspection of Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB), Mr. Kaka Bello, said begging was nuisance related, adding that AEPB was determined to rid the city of all kinds of an environmental nuisance.
“We have a matching order by the FCT Minister, Malam Muhammad Bello to ensure that the movement of beggars within the city is check and stop.
“That is why we are working all round, both day and night, to ensure that no beggar is allowed to move in the city.” He explained.
