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The Anambra State Government has begun cracking down on criminal syndicates exploiting children for begging in Awuka, the state capital.
The Ministry of Women Affairs and the Awuka Capital City Development Authority (ACTDA) conducted the operation on Tuesday night and detained about 30 underage beggars and adults.
The flyover at Aroma Junction has long been a shelter for child beggars who are hired by begging gangs to beg.
Locals told reporters that these children not only beg during school hours, which is not only an eyesore, but also often steal other people’s property, causing a nuisance. Daily Mail.
A local resident said: “Whenever charity groups come here to distribute food, they start creating a very noisy atmosphere and end up even stealing mobile phones and other valuables from members of the group, who don’t suspect that some of them are thieves.”
A local traffic warden said: “Sometimes, you will see them climbing up the flyover and then jumping down from the height. They cause all kinds of nuisance in that area, including stealing things from themselves and passers-by, and fighting.”
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Commissioner for Women Affairs Ife Obinabbo said: “We are arresting these children not to victimise them but to use them to catch the criminal syndicates that brought them here to beg.
“You and I know that the number of out-of-school children in Anambra State is very small and we will not sit idly by and allow these children to live on the streets and be exploited by gangs.
“They will help us track down the criminal groups behind this and bring them to justice.”
ACTDA Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Ossy Onuko, said the operation was prepared in coordination with the Ministry of Women Affairs to rescue children from the streets.
At the same time, catching street children was also very difficult. When the law enforcement team tried to catch them, they immediately ran away, and some of them even resisted. However, they were caught, thrown into waiting trucks, and taken away.
Obinabo said the operation will continue in all areas of Awka to ensure that no more minors in the town are exploited by begging gangs to cheat people out of money.
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