Delta State government has evacuated over a dozen homeless children, including a 19-year-old mother and her three-month-old baby from public places.
The commissioner for Women Affairs, Community and Social Development, Mrs Pat Ajudua disclosed this after a raid on strategic locations in Asaba and its environs.
The commissioner said the exercise was aimed at taking children off the streets, where they would be profiled before they are reunited with their parents or caregivers.
“Delta State does not encourage street hawking; we don’t encourage little children, or even women sleeping under the bridge.
“They constitute nuisance, and as the days go by, they end up becoming criminals that will pose security risks to the state.”
Also apprehended was a fatherless twin, Clinton and Henry, who were caught alongside other children loitering in the early hours of the day.
However, Somto Ifekanma, decried his arrest by personnel of the ministry, stating he was a sachet water vendor, who had spent the night on the streets, because he could not secure an accommodation.
“You won’t see me in Summit (Junction) again. It was because of what happened last night that I went there.”
Similarly, 19-year-old Regina Albert from Onitsha in Anambra State, who alleged that she has cancer, had taken her baby to the popular Summit Junction in Asaba, in the early hours of the morning to seek alms, before they were evacuated by officials of the Ministry of Women Affairs, Community and Social Development.
“I sat down begging to secure the needed fund to have an operation when the officials came and arrested me,” she said.
It was said that the Delta State capital had experienced the challenge of influx of people from neighbouring and far states, who besiege the streets to beg alms while some have been reported to be involved in criminal activities.
