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| The Dumped Beggers |
No fewer than 70 beggars and the homeless were on Wednesday dumped at the Upper Iweka Bridge, Onitsha, Anambra State.
Agents of the Lagos State Government reportedly brought the destitute to Onitsha.
The destitute told journalists that they
were dumped about 3am at Upper Iweka after being detained in Ikorodu,
Lagos, for over six months for alleged wandering and other minor
offences by the Lagos State Kick Against Indiscipline officials.
The destitute said they were brought to Onitsha in four buses, escorted by riot policemen.
One of them, Mr. Osondu Mbuto, from
Ohaozara in Ebonyi State and a petty trader in Lagos, said he was
arrested by the Lagos State Government officials while going to his shop
on December 18, 2012.
The Chairman of Nigeria Red Cross
Society in the South-East, Dr. Peter Katchy, described the action of the
Lagos State officials as condemnable.
He said, “It’s very deplorable; it’s
very disheartening that a state in the Federal Republic of Nigeria will
bundle people, who are not even indigenes of Anambra State, and dump
them under the flyover at Upper Iweka in Onitsha.
“Many of the people, we have interviewed
are not indigenes of Anambra State. Some of them are from Ebonyi State;
some are from Imo State among other states.
“It is an insult to Anambra State. We
shall draw the attention of the governor of Anambra State to ask the
reason for such an invasion of his territory.
“We will find out why Lagos State should
invade Anambra State territory; and why Lagos State should dump people
here and leave them helpless.
“We are here on humanitarian purposes
and in response to an emergency. From what we discovered here, this is a
human emergency and a human callousness.”
Katchy, however, promised that the
society would move the destitute to the Anambra State Social Welfare
Centre in Onitsha South Local Government for rehabilitation.
The Lagos State Government had dumped another set of beggars at Upper Iweka late last year.
Calls made to the mobile phone of the
Lagos State Commissioner for Information, Mr. Lateef Ibirogba, for his
reaction, did not go through.
He also did not respond to a text message sent to him by one of our correspondents.Culled from PUNCH
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