Officials of the Kwara State Ministry of Social Welfare and Development, in collaboration with operatives of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCS), Kwara Command, at the weekend, continued a coordinated evacuation exercise of beggars from the streets of Ilorin, the state capital.

About 40 beggars were picked up during the operation, which lasted several hours and involved the Special Assistant to the Governor on Drug Abuse Prevention and Control, Mikail Aileru.

The team combed Tipper Garage, Tank, Offa Garage and Geri Alimi Roundabout, where the majority of the beggars were evacuated.

During profiling and search, a foreign currency note (US Dollar) was found on one of the beggars identified as Musa Mahmud, who claimed to be from Kano State.

He was also found with over N18,000 cash. Another, Mallam Aliyu Buhari, who also said he hailed from Kano, was caught with more than N17,000 cash.

One of the beggars was further discovered to be in possession of a sharp knife, which he claimed was used for slicing onions.

Among those evacuated, seven comprising four women and three men were identified as repeat offenders, having been arrested in previous evacuation exercises but returning to the streets afterwards.

The state Commissioner for Social Welfare and Development, Dr. Mariam Imam, expressed delight that the operation was yielding results, noting that the number of those evacuated had “drastically reduced from 94 arrested during the last time to less than 40.”

She explained that the ministry’s team was adjusting its strategy as the beggars were also changing their tactics and locations to evade arrest.

She urged members of the public to stop patronizing beggars and instead channel their offerings through religious organizations, orphanages, and places of worship, reiterating that street begging had been outlawed in Kwara State.

Speaking with journalists, the Head of Non-Custodial Centre of the Nigerian Correctional Service, Kwara Command, Assistant Controller of Prisons (ACP) Adebayo Okunola, said punitive measures would be applied to the arrested beggars to serve as deterrence.

“We will make sure that they clean the streets, they will sweep the streets so that they will know that there is dignity in labour,” he said.

Mikail, on his part, said the exercise was meant to sanitise the city of Ilorin and ward off criminal elements who may be disguising as beggars to aid and abet crimes.

Meanwhile, Musa told Daily Trust that the Dollar bill was given to him by a customer in Abuja.

Other beggars lamented that they had no other means of livelihood beyond begging and pleaded with the government to be lenient.

About N100,000 cash was recovered from the beggars during the exercise. (Daily Trust)