Oyo residents worry over influx of child beggars
By Tribune Online
Oyo residents worry over influx of child beggars
Though living on the street had been an issue in many South-West states for a while with some children devising varied survival strategies, including crime to cope with the hardships, various governments have been making efforts to take children off the streets.
But in the last few weeks, residents of Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, have continued to express fear over the sudden appearance of hundreds of child beggars who are predominantly from the northern part of the country, indicating that the manner in which they suddenly took over the streets is scary and a sign that anything can happen without anyone suspecting.
A drive around the city from Mokola under bridge to Dugbe around the Post Office, Iwo road roundabout and Challenge reveals that the children at a given time are not less than 30 in number, running after people and cars especially when there is a little hold-up in traffic to beg for money from people.
“The way these children run after cars gives me concern; they take a lot of risks putting their feet too close to the tyres of a moving vehicle. Then the question that comes to mind is how did these people get here? It looks like they just packed them one night and deposited them here. I have counted at this Mokola roundabout about 35 of them on the average around 1.00pm and 2.00pm daily. And my concern is, why will children be let loose like that? It means if they intend to smuggle terrorists in, that is how they will be brought in without anyone knowing,” Biodun Ajeigbe, a trader told Nigerian Tribune.
Nigerian Tribune’s investigations revealed that the children aged between two and 13, are not alone, they were brought by in with their mothers who seat not far off from where they monitor their activities. And for them, begging is a way of life. They are taught from their early age to beg as they are the people that look for what their parents will eat.
Corroborating this, the Programme Officer of Beth-Zion, an organization that advocates child welfare and women empowerment, Akinwande Soji-Ojo states that, “for these people, begging is a way of life. They are nomadic beggars; they are moved from state to state in their hundreds, they are in Oyo State now, in a few months, they will take them to another state. Indeed, they are very organised but our experience is that they do not believe in doing any other thing, they will resist any effort to take those children to school or empower the mothers.
“They do not believe you are helping them by taking those children off the street because to them, it is normal for those children to go and beg so the parents can eat. All they want is to have children they can send out, and the more the better,” he stated.
For the child beggars, nothing is wrong with the way they live because that is how they grew up and begging is a way of life. Some even believe that it is what God expects of them; consequently, though it is not easy, they don’t complain because they don’t know better
And across busy bus stops in Ibadan, they are seen in groups begging for money and food. They go to people and doors of moving vehicles and will go long distances begging until they get something from the person or they are convinced that the person is not ready to part with anything.
To these children, education is not the way to go because they have to beg for money for the family to survive and the concept of work is alien; the only constant thing in their lives is moving from city to city over a period of time with their parents to beg for a living. In their culture, it is the responsibility of the children to struggle for food while the mothers sit comfortably somewhere near, waiting for returns.
Speaking on the influx, Mary Bassey told Nigerian Tribune that, the influx of child beggars into Ibadan is scary because they would encourage the spread of this culture among the children here. We have been advocating the need to eradicate children begging on the street but with this, those that had gone back to their parents will be encouraged to come out. The impact is that crime may increase.
“They cause a lot of discomfort for motorists as you must be very careful not to hit or drive over their legs. And if you are walking, the way they hang unto you is uncomfortable as you have to pay attention so they don’t pick your pocket. Government needs to find out where they came from suddenly, this is a security risk and worrisome,” she stated.
And though some do not consider this a threat; others have stated that the large numbers of the children beggars may lead to an increase in child criminality. “This kind of organised nomadic movement and begging can be used by terrorists to infiltrate the state, the child beggars have practically taken over the streets and are a threat to everyone whether we agree or not,” Dele Oni, another resident told Nigerian Tribune.
As people continue to express concern at the influx into the state, especially Ibadan city, the child beggars are oblivious of the threat they constitute, they are mainly doing their job as they have been trained to believe it is their lot in life to beg to provide for their family.
And as residents continue to emphases the need to take action and put in place policies to tackle the problem of nomadic child begging, only time will tell how the menace will be tackled.
Meanwhile, officials of the Oyo State government that spoke to Nigerian Tribune stated that a number of studies have been undertaken by the Ministry of Environment, as well as the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Welfare on the issue.
They said that the Ministry of Environment is actually responsible for training, retraining and rehabilitation of the destitute and beggars, adding that the influx of the child beggars in recent times has also come to the attention of the ministry.
“A position paper has been prepared for the new governor by the ministry to ensure the menace is tackled. What the ministry has been doing is to distinguish between the different categories of beggars; some are disabled, some are professional beggars while some are hired by professional beggars. The ministry has been emphasising a rehabilitation policy to ensure that a number of them are sent back to school, some are reunited with their families and for those who are of no known address, the essence is to rehabilitate them.
“The state government is set to act on a blueprint in that regard and once that is done, the menace of child beggars would end in the state,” the ministry representative stated.
Oyo residents worry over influx of child beggars
Tribune Online