Over 250 beggars has taken to the streets to protest low patronage by members of the public following a recent rumour that some rich men usually ‘buy’ money from them for fetish purposes.
According to reports, spokesperson for the needy, Imam Abubakar Abdullahi, Serikin Hausawa of Hausawa Community, Oja’ba, Ibadan, had created deep hatred for his people.
“The reports that some wealthy people are buying money from beggars, including the physically-challenged people, for money rituals is not true. As a result of the claim that some ritualists do buy money from these beggars, there has been public resentment against these innocent people.
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What we know is that traders, hawkers and commercial drivers do come to these beggars who are mainly blind and lame people, to change money (get smaller denominations).
We need to clear our names so that people will not be punishing us for offences we don’t know anything about,” he said.
Meanwhile, As the ban on street begging takes effect in Kano, the government has threatened to arrest beggars and hand them over to wealthy people in their local councils.
This warning came from the Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Zahra’u Muhammad-Umar, during an empowerment package’s presentation to the beneficiaries, in Kano, on Thursday.
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The government said it empowered no fewer than 60 women and youths with different entrepreneurial skills, following the ban on street begging in the state.
“The government cannot do it alone. Anyone found will be taken to his or her local government for the wealthy individuals there to empower them,” Mrs. Muhammad-Umar warned.
On February 5, the government arrested 500 beggars and repatriated them to their various communities, following the ban on street begging in the state.
She said there was a need for women to be financially stable and help their families, adding that “some of the beneficiaries were picked from the street and under bridges.”
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Mrs. Muhammad-Umar explained that this necessitated the decision to empower the women and other vulnerable people in the state living with a disability for them to fend for themselves and quit street begging.
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