The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), has evacuated no fewer than 150 beggars and destitute from the major streets of Abuja for constituting environmental nuisance and defacing the city.

Hadiza Kabir, Secretary, FCTA Social Development Secretariat (SDS), disclosed this in a statement on Sunday in Abuja.

Ms Kabir said that the evacuation of the beggars, mainly women and children, including old men, was carried out by SDS officials in collaboration with some FCT agencies.

She said that the agencies included; the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB), Directorate of Road Traffic Services, FCT Security Department and office of the Senior Special Assistant to the FCT minister on Monitoring, Inspection and Enforcement.

According to her, the evacuation is part of renewed efforts to rid the city of street begging, following complaints received about the menace.

She said that FCTA was targeting to evacuate between 400 and 1,000 beggars from the city following directives from the FCT Minister of State, Dr Ramatu Aliyu, that SDS should ensure their removal from Abuja.

The FCTA secretary said that the administration would evacuate  all the beggars and camp them in some of its centres for proper documentation.

Ms Kabir said that in the documentation, the minister would liaise with state governments for return to their respective states.

“The FCT minister of state has sent a strong warning through my office, being the leader of the team, that we should go off the streets, because we are coming out massively for them.

“The minister has already sent them food and drinks to eat and break fast in the evening, but we are coming for them if they don’t leave the streets of Abuja,” she warned.

Ikharo Attah, the Senior Special Assistant to FCT minister on Monitoring, Inspection and Enforcement, said the FCTA evacuated the beggars and took them to a safe place, profile and ensure that most of them were well catered for and later sent back to their states.

“During the month of Ramadan where most Muslim brothers and sisters are devoting themselves to the service of Almighty Allah, we see excessive beggars from across the country flood the FCT.

“So, we have to move them off the streets. They stay in sensitive areas where they gather in large numbers to beg for alms and in the process disturb people.

”The complaint came in, we moved in and cleared them in a friendly manner. We will take them back to their respective states, so that they will leave the streets,” Mr Attah said. 

(NAN)