THE Kwara State Government has intensified its crackdown on street begging, arresting about 40 beggars in Ilorin over the weekend in a coordinated raid that revealed shocking discoveries, including a U.S. dollar bill, wads of naira totalling nearly ₦100,000, and even a sharp knife.
News Point Nigeria reports that the operation, led by the Ministry of Social Welfare and Development in collaboration with operatives of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCS), Kwara Command, combed major hotspots across Ilorin including Tipper Garage, Tank, Offa Garage, and Geri Alimi Roundabout in a renewed effort to rid the streets of beggars and restore order.
The exercise, which lasted several hours, was supervised by Mikail Aileru, Special Assistant to the Governor on Drug Abuse Prevention and Control.
During profiling and search, officials were stunned when one of the suspects, identified as Musa Mahmud from Kano State, was found with a U.S. dollar bill and over ₦18,000 in cash. Another suspect, Malam Aliyu Buhari, also from Kano, was caught with more than ₦17,000.
In an even more alarming discovery, one of the beggars was found carrying a sharp knife. He, however, claimed it was only used for slicing onions.
Officials disclosed that about ₦100,000 in total was recovered from the beggars during the exercise, raising questions about the real economic status of some individuals who parade themselves as destitute.
Among those arrested were seven repeat offenders, four women and three men, who had been previously evacuated in past operations but returned to the streets.
Dr. Mariam Imam, the state’s Commissioner for Social Welfare and Development, expressed satisfaction with the progress of the campaign.
“We are seeing results. The number of those evacuated has drastically reduced from 94 during the last exercise to less than 40 this time,” she said, adding that her team is adjusting strategies as beggars constantly change locations to evade arrest.
She urged residents to stop giving alms directly to street beggars, encouraging them instead to channel donations through recognised religious organisations, orphanages, and places of worship.
Assistant Controller of Prisons (ACP) Adebayo Okunola, Head of the Non-Custodian Centre of the NCS, warned that punitive measures would be applied to deter street begging.
“We will make sure they clean the streets. They will sweep and tidy public places to understand that there is dignity in labour,” he stated.
Mikail Aileru said the exercise was not just about clearing the streets but also about preventing criminal elements from using begging as a cover for illicit activities.
Some of the arrested beggars pleaded with the government for mercy, lamenting that they had no other source of livelihood.
Musa, the man found with the dollar bill, told journalists that the foreign currency was given to him by a customer in Abuja.