The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has repatriated 217 destitute, street beggars, and vagabonds to their states of origin to address the issue of human and environmental nuisances. The move came after the FCT minister of state, Dr Ramatu Aliyu, and the permanent secretary, FCTA, Mr Olusade Adesola instructed the department of social welfare services to rid the city of the destitute and beggars.
The director of the department of Social Welfare Services, Social Development Secretariat (SDS) of the FCTA, Alhaji Sani Amar-Rabe, disclosed that the repatriation complied with the order of the FCT minister of state and permanent secretary. He stated that it was the responsibility of the FCTA to ensure that those evacuated from the streets were repatriated to their various states.
Most of the repatriated destitute and street beggars were transported to Katsina, Kaduna, Niger, Jigawa, Kano, Zamfara, Sokoto, and Kebbi states, while some were sent back to Abia, Imo, and Delta states. The director revealed that the FCT minister of state had been in contact with some of the state governments through their liaison offices to ensure that they were more responsive in addressing and managing the repatriated destitute and beggars.
According to Amar-Rabe, some of the beggars and destitute consider the FCT safer and economically viable, especially those from the North West and North East. He emphasized that some of them have made begging and destitution an attitude, and street boys that constitute a menace and deface the FCC, manifest into another threat to the security of the residents.
The director called on the FCT residents, especially the well-to-do, to desist from giving alms and charity to the street beggars because it encourages them to continue to remain on the streets and constitute a nuisance to the city. He urged state governments to be more proactive in tackling destitution.
The principal of FCT Vocational and Rehabilitation Centre in Bwari, Malam Bala Dantsoho, explained that most of those repatriated are untrainable, so they have to be sent back to their various states. Dantsoho decried the proliferation of street beggars and destitute in the FCT and urged state governments to take proactive steps to address the issue.
The FCTA’s action is a step towards addressing the issue of destitution and beggars on the streets of the Federal Capital Territory, and state governments need to take proactive steps to tackle the issue and ensure that their citizens are well catered for.