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Tag: Social welfare

  • FCTA Sweeps 607 Beggars, Mentally Challenged Persons Off Abuja Streets

    FCTA Sweeps 607 Beggars, Mentally Challenged Persons Off Abuja Streets

    The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has removed no fewer than 607 beggars and mentally challenged individuals from the streets of Abuja between July 2025 and date, as part of efforts to enhance security and maintain order in the nation’s capital.

    Mrs Ukachi Adebayo, Head of Enforcement at the FCT Social Development Secretariat (SDS), disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Abuja.

    Adebayo said the exercise was carried out by the Operation Sweep Abuja team, established to rid the city of criminal elements. She explained that out of the 607 persons evacuated, 583 were beggars, while 23 were mentally challenged individuals.

    According to her, those apprehended were counselled and profiled before being taken to their respective state liaison offices for return to their states of origin, where they are expected to undergo rehabilitation.

    “What we do when we apprehend them is to counsel them in order to properly profile them. After that, we take them to their liaison offices to be returned to their states,” Adebayo said.

    She noted that despite repeated evacuations, many of the individuals often return to the streets of Abuja, attributing the trend to insecurity in some states of origin. She added that the operation would remain ongoing.

    Similarly, the Acting Director of Social Welfare at the SDS, Mrs Gloria Onwuka, said investigations revealed that some children seen begging on the streets were brought in from other states by unidentified individuals who collect the proceeds from them.

    Onwuka disclosed that in many cases, women arrested with children begging were not their biological mothers, describing street begging as a growing business.

    “Begging is now run like a business. People hire children from other states and bring them to Abuja to beg, while the families of the children are often unaware,” she said.

    Also speaking, Dr Peter Olumuji, Secretary of the FCTA Command and Control Centre, said Operation Sweep Abuja is a joint security operation involving relevant security agencies as well as FCT secretariats, departments and agencies.

    He explained that the initiative was instituted by the FCT Minister, Mr Nyesom Wike, to rid Abuja of miscreants, beggars, scavengers and other criminal elements, noting that beggars pose security threats and contribute to the defacing of the city.

    Olumuji added that some beggars serve as informants to criminals, while others become victims of kidnapping and ritual-related crimes.

    He recalled that Wike, in October 2024, declared a war on street begging in Abuja, citing concerns that the city was fast turning into a “beggars’ city.”

    The minister had stressed that the move was aimed at strengthening security and ensuring that residents and visitors could live and move around the capital without fear.

  • Conditional Cash Transfer Program: Reps Summon Humanitarian Affairs Minister

    Conditional Cash Transfer Program: Reps Summon Humanitarian Affairs Minister

    On Tuesday, the House of Representatives issued a summon for the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Betta Edu. 

    The House is seeking clarification on the status of the conditional cash transfer program initiated by President Bola Tinubu’s administration, which aims to benefit 15 million households.

    This development came in response to a motion of urgent public importance presented in the green chamber.

    Members of the House expressed concerns regarding the handling of the programme and the perceived lack of transparency.

    The Minister is expected to provide detailed information on the data collection process and the distribution of funds to beneficiaries.

     President Tinubu officially launched the Renewed Hope Conditional Cash Transfer for 15 million households back in October.

    According to the Minister, these 15 million households encompass approximately 62 million Nigerians, and they are expected to receive a monthly transfer of N25,000 for three months, totaling N75,000 for each beneficiary.

  • FEC Approves Creation Of $5bn Humanitarian, Poverty Alleviation Trust Fund

    The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the establishment of the Humanitarian and Poverty Alleviation Trust Fund to raise 5 billion dollars annually.

    The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr Betta Edu, disclosed this while briefing State House Correspondents on the outcome of the FEC meeting, held on Monday, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    Edu said: “Every year we hope to be able to raise at least 5 billion dollars within this fund and this is from the various fund and sources.

    “We are hopeful that with the creation of this funding, we can sit down with all the key stakeholders including other ministries and actually work out the full modalities of implementation in Nigeria”.

    The minister expressed gratitude to President Bola Tinubu for the approval for the creation of the Humanitarian and Poverty Alleviation Trust Fund.

    “The council approved for the establishment of the Humanitarian and Poverty Alleviation Trust fund to actually be put together under a governing board.

    “And then of course, the implementation of that humanitarian and poverty trust fund, would be carefully worked out by members of the committee.

    “Of course, it will involve the Minister of Finance and other ministers that are relevant to the process. This is a flexible form of financing that is supposed to help Nigeria adequately respond to humanitarian crisis.

    “This will also respond to challenges as well as adequately address the issue of poverty in Nigeria and bring victory for the poor and indeed, bring help and succor which the Renewed Hope Agenda stands for,” she said.

    Edu further said that the fund was a flexible form of financing that could help the government get contributions from different sectors.

    She added that the fund would get contributions from the government, private sector, development partners, philanthropic individuals and other innovative form of funding.

    “This is to allow for emergency response to humanitarian crisis in Nigeria. Every other day we hear about crisis, the flood and the rest of it. So, we need to be able to respond adequately as a country.

    “Beyond this, the issue of poverty reduction is one of the agenda of the President Bola Tinubu in his eight-point agenda and we have to tackle it headlong,” she said

    The minister also revealed that the FEC has ratified the protocol on the protection of the rights of older persons in the country.

    “The Federal Executive Council, where the chairman of Council and members of council took decisions to ratify the protocol on the protection of the rights of older persons in Nigeria.

    “We have signed up to the African Charter and this has made us one of the countries within Africa that has approved that older people be protected and should not be discriminated against at any level.

    “And this gives them a lot of protection and the government of President Bola Tinubu is interested in their welfare and protecting their rights,” the minister said.

  • N5bn Palliative: Physically challenged persons demand 5% approved for states, LGs

    The National Association of Persons with Physical Disabilities (NAPWPD) has demanded a five per cent share of the N5 billion palliative approved by the Federal Government for states and local government councils. 

    The Federal Government has approved the disbursement of N5 billion to states, local government councils and the Federal Capital Territory as palliative.

    In a reaction, the National President of NAPWPD, Mr Rilwan Mohammed, in a statement in Kaduna at the weekend, appealed that five per cent of the fund should be allocated to Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) across the states.

    Mohammed explained that the demand was in tandem with the provisions of the Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) Prohibition Act.

    He added that Section 25 of the Disability Law also provided that in situations of risk or humanitarian emergencies, PWDs should be accorded preference and protection.

    He also expressed displeasure that the PWDs were not carried along in the decision to support the states and the local government councils with the funds.   

    “The disability law provides for a sharing formula to accommodate PWDs, who are usually excluded when they are lumped with other people during allocation of relief support.

    “It is to address this problem that we are asking for five per cent to be allocated to PWDs in line with the provision of the law,” he said.

    The president stressed the need for a clear template or clarity on how marginalised groups like the PWDs would be accommodated in the utilization of the N5 billion palliative.

    He noted that the association has been extremely disturbed and sorely worried over the suffering of its members due to the fuel subsidy removal by President Bola Tinubu-led administration.

    “The impact of the removal has continued to have a debilitating impact on PWDs who are largely poor and vulnerable.

    “The inability of PWDs to afford decent food, healthcare and necessities of life have been compounded and made worse with the recent situation in the country.

    “Our members now find it difficult to access public transport as the transport system is largely inaccessible and unaffordable to members of the disability community,” he said.

    He lamented the rapid multiplier effect of the subsidy removal on the price of goods and services, adding that the development was making life unbearable for the poor, particularly PWDs.

    Mohammed implored the federal, state, and local governments to tackle the challenges of public transportation and consider the peculiarities of PWDs.

    He said that for the public transport system to be accessible to PWDs, buses and other means of transportation should be fitted with adjustable ramps and handrails for wheelchair users.

    “The vehicles should also be fitted with signage and electronic display for directions with audio announcements for the benefit of the deaf and the blind.

    “All these are provided for in the disability law.

    “Our demands, therefore, are not based on charity requests but consistent with legal provisions,” he said.

    Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno announced the approval of the funds at the end of the National Economic Council meeting on Aug. 17 in Abuja.

    Zulum had explained that the measure was to cushion the effects of the subsidy removal on petrol.

    He, however, explained that the fund was on the basis of 52 per cent grants and 48 per cent as loans to be repaid to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) within 20 months by the states and local councils.