By Omeiza Ajayi

ABUJA: The Federal Capital Territory FCT Administration on Thursday transferred the 210 beggars it arrested since the commencement of its ‘Operation Sweep’ to its Vocational and Rehabilitation Centre in Bwari.

Acting Director of the Social Welfare department in the Social Development Secretariat SDS, Gloria Onwuka disclosed this when she took the apprehended beggars to the Thursday.

She said out of those arrested in continuation of its ‘Operation Sweep Abuja clean’, 58 are female, 72 children and 80 men.

According to her, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory FCT, Nyesom Wike, had directed officials of the department to step up arrest of unhoused persons, following public outcry on activities of some persons disguising as beggars.

Onwuka said; “Every day you receive complaints about one thing or the other, ‘one -chance’, kidnapping, all manner of evil things in FCT. So the minister directed us to do away with all those things.

“Most of the beggars even go to the extent of hiring people’s children to come on the road and be begging and there are families where they hire these children from. We didn’t even know that this is what they are using their children to do.

“They have taken it as a business. They will now go and hire people from other states, put them in vehicles, very early in the morning, they will come into Abuja and start begging. By evening or in the night, they will disappear.

“There is a woman we caught, she now said that she has cancer of the breast but by the time they loose the bandage, there was no single wound on her breast.  

“The ‘one chance’ issue, there is one that our people picked around 2am. He was carrying a machete with POS and different bank ATMs. The time they pick anybody, they will now ask you, which one is your bank? They will give you the card of your own bank, you press, if you fail, they use machete and do away with the victim.

“We have arrested 80 men since the commencement of the exercise, the females are 58 while the children are 72 in number. The exercise will continue until Abuja streets are free of beggars”

On security, the Director FCTA Security Services department, Adamu Gwary said those arrested were constituting various degree of crimes in the territory.

Gwary represented by Dr Peter Olumuji, said activities of the beggars had become a threat to the security of the residents.

He said; “We want to believe that most of the people arrested, they have constituted degrees of crime and other things in the nation’s capital.

“The security concern of most of these nuisances within the FCT has become a source of great worry to the residents and the Minister has given a directive to the Commissioner of Police and all other relevant agencies to ensure that the FCT is rid of all these security threats”, he said.