The influx of street beggars to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and its suburbs, is gradually becoming a menace to Abuja, Nigeria’s serene, tree-lined and moneyed capital city.
Security agencies have also disclosed that some of these beggars could be spies.
Begging for alms is an age-long trade spanning several civilizations. Begging is common in urban environments where people who are physically challenged, visually impaired, deaf, or less privileged and stranded, pour into major streets, roundabouts, event centers, churches and mosques, to solicit for financial assistance from members of the public.
Some of these beggars are genuinely in need, while others masquerade as beggars in a bid to gather information for nefarious activities.
Some magnanimous persons in Abuja tend to restrict their generosity to the genuine beggars because of miscreants hanging around various locations like Wuse, Banex, Maitama, Asokoro, Area 1, Garki 2, Secretariat, motor parks, garages, markets.
These miscreants sometimes act as spies, as they seek information for their paymasters, intelligence sources have disclosed to Quest Times on condition of anonymity, because they haven’t been authorized to speak on the subject.
There have been instances where a few of these so-called beggars and hawkers are discovered to be agents of dare-devil criminals.
However, this piece will focus primarily on how these beggars–whether genuine or fake–are constituting a nuisance to the Abuja metropolitan community and a threat to the city’s threadbare internal security.
Last year, the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB) placed a ban on street begging and hawking in the FCT. Those who engage in these acts have been warned to vacate the streets or be arrested, as extant laws have outlawed their activities within the city centre and its environs.
The Quest Times can report however, that some of the beggars are still found at major pedestrian bridges across the very busy Airport Road, Aya Roundabouts, Wuse area, Berger and suburbs of the capital city like Gwarimpa, Gwagwalada, Apo, Galadimawa, Bwari, Katampe, Karu, Jikwoyi and Nyanya.
These beggars, in their large numbers, have also infiltrated satellite towns like Lugbe, Kubwa, Dei Dei, Chika, Pykassa, Kuchigoro, Gwagwa, Kuje, Kurudu, and Mpape.
Despite the prohibition and stern warnings from government personnel, this set of people defy the authorities to continue with their illegal activities, while stating that they have no choice but to do so in order to survive.
Most times, some of these hawkers and beggars are allegedly molested and maltreated by AEPB enforcement teams within the metropolis.
In a chat with our correspondents at the Wuse market last Wednesday, Awulu Tijjani, 31, from Bauchi State, said he had an accident some 9 years ago that led to the amputation of one of his legs.
Asked how much he makes on a daily basis, he smiled, saying sometimes he makes N6,000 or more if luck smiles on him.
He stressed that he is begging to sustain himself because his family cannot fend for him.
Another beggar along Airport Road, popularly called Sani Mai Shara, said he was crippled by the Polio virus and has been residing in Abuja for over a decade now.
He said he sweeps the overhead bridge to keep the place tidy for people who assist him with money.
“Some people give me N500, N200, N50 and I sometimes make N3000, N1300 especially during week days.
Musa Abdulrasaq, a beggar who sells sweets and chewing gums from a wheelbarrow at Mararaba bridge, told Quest Times through an interpreter, that he decided to start selling the items as people gift him more money and buy his products using signs.
According to him, the amount he makes daily from sales is always above N3,000.
When asked whether he can abandon begging for a vocational job, he said whatever Allah has decided as his fate, he would humbly accept.
Corporate beggars
On the other hand, those called corporate beggars hang around event centers, hotels and gardens; and are found parading the vicinities of government parastatals.
Some of this class of beggars even go as far as forming associations.
For instance, there are women seen moving from one hotel to the other. Whenever there’s an event, they position themselves at the entrance and solicit money from top dignitaries, while claiming that they are widows.
Our investigative team has sighted this set of beggars at the Ladi Kwali Conference Hall of Sheraton hotel on numerous occasions.
Other women leave their homes in the Abuja suburbs and attend programmes at NAF Valley Event Centre at Kado, International Conference Centre (ICC) among other places. They are also well dressed and pretend to be participants of such events.
Some of these corporate beggars in groups of 6 or 10, end up insulting dignitaries who refuse to listen to them.
There are also quack Journalists (Photographers turned Journalists) who take note of every event in Abuja and attend these events with their gadgets, while appealing to politicians and other dignitaries for interviews, with the intent to extort after the interview.
However, most of these journalists do not use these interviews, as they move from one event to another on a daily basis, begging politicians for money. They call what they do ‘hustling’.
A reaction from Govt
When Quest Times contacted the Director of Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB), Engr. Osilama Braimah over the alarming street begging malaise, he emphasized that existing laws have proscribed their activities within the FCT.
He said: “We have said many times that street begging, hawking, scavenging popularly called ‘Bababola’, those riding Okada as means of public transportation, are totally prohibited in the FCT by law. So whoever engages in these activities is doing that at his peril.
“There are reasons for this. First of all, when people live on the streets, there is a threat of security challenge because we don’t know their identity. But if it is someone that is genuinely deprived or struggling, that is a different case. But we don’t know whether the person is a criminal pretending to be among these people who are beggars.
He added that “armed robbers today use begging to survey locations to attack. The second part of it is that it also presents a public health challenge because if you’re living rough like that, it means you don’t have access to sanitary facilities, toilet and so on, so you sleep on the streets. That is why we have the problem of open defecation which is hazardous to human health.”
Engr. Braimah reiterated that a person living rough on the streets is also impinging on the rights of other Nigerians who want to live peacefully and work without rancour.
“This is why there are specific laws against these kinds of activities in the federal capital. Remember that FCT is a creation of law, everything and every aspect of life is regulated by laws.
“You’re building structures, shanties, pyramids but note that residency is marked in some specific areas. Also, plaza, shops, schools and markets are coordinated by laws.
“When you now do things against this kind of social order, there’s a problem and we normally arrest violators and take them to court for trials and they are punished in most cases.
“Of course we have economic challenges in the country and we’re all aware some of these economic challenges will present themselves as environmental factors.
“People are looking for work, that’s true, but it has to be done by law. We have markets and plazas where you can find somewhere to fit in and continue your daily life without breaking the law. You’re not allowed to do your businesses on the streets of the FCT.”
He noted that Abuja’s style of living is expensive when compared to Lagos and other cities in the country because it is designed as a Government town.
He disclosed that the agency is deploying all the tools in its arsenal to tackle the menace of begging, hawking, scavenging and Okada (commercial motorbikes), in order to ensure a comfortable environment for residents who are desirous of living in, and obeying the laws of the FCT.