The Oyo State Government has arrested 32 suspected street beggars in Ibadan metropolis for allegedly violating the law banning street begging in the state.
The Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Inclusion, Mrs Toyin Balogun, stated this at the Akinyele Resettlement Center, Ibadan, where the beggers were lodged.
In a statement by the Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Prince Dotun Oyelade, the suspects were apprehended during a special raid carried out by officers of the Ministry of Women Affairs, and security agents in the metropolis.
Mrs Balogun disclosed that the state government frowns at the menace, which has become an eye sore in the society, as it not only affects the beauty of the roads, but also a high risk to the beggars’ lives as they can be knocked down or crushed by speeding vehicles, stressing that it is a crime to beg on the streets of Oyo State.
The Commissioner explained that the state government is working on making the Resettlement Center at Akinyele more conducive for the beggars, noting that food will be provided to them while they undergo vocational training on simple but profitable crafts for their source of livelihood.
In a related development, the statement says the Oyo State Government has vowed to permanently stamp out street begging from the state.
The Commissioner for Environment and Natural Resources, Abdulmojeed Mogbonjubola, said this while touring the Egbeda Local Government Area, on Thursday.
During the tour, he accosted a suspected “co-ordinator of beggars” (name withheld), who specialises in conveying beggars from the Northern part of the country to the state, asking them to desist from such henceforth.
Mogbonjubola, who described the menace as greatly traumatic, disclosed that the governor has discovered the infiltration and convergence of beggers within the metropolis as against the provisions and policy of the state government.
He vowed that street beggers who refuse to take advantage of the magnanimous gesture of the governor’s accommodation, specifically built for them, at Moniya, in the Akinyele Local Government Area, would, henceforth, face relocation to their home state.
The Commissioner disclosed that necessary conclusions have been reached with the Commissioner of Women Affairs, Mrs Balogun.
He assured that all such unglorios vendors and consultants bringing in beggers to the state would be apprehended and prosecuted, reiterating the commitment of the Governor Makinde-led administration to champion and ensure an ideal, safe environment for all.
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