Six arrested for using sick people to beg for alms

A joint security team of the police and Anambra Vigilante have arrested six people for allegedly using sick people to obtain money under false pretences from the public.

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The police spokesperson in Anambra, Tochukwu Ikenga, disclosed this in a statement in Awka on Friday.

Mr Ikenga said police operatives from the Oba Divisional Police Office and vigilantes in the state, on 17 April, raided an uncompleted building at Isu Village in Oba, Idemili-South Local Government Area, where they arrested the six suspects.

He said the suspects allegedly hired four sick people to beg for alms from the public.

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The suspects were identified as Doris Basil, 28; Peter Ezedike, 38; Susan Monday, 27; Ogechi Okoro, 27; Solomon Sunday, 29; and Kenneth Achi, 29.

Mr Ikenga, a superintendent of police, said the operatives recovered six mobile phones and N82,400 in N50, N100 and N200 denominations.

He said the command has taken into custody the four sick people suspected to be suffering from brain tumours, breast cancer, and other terminal ailments.

Mr Ikenga said the police provided first aid and sought higher intervention for their treatment and safe return to their families.

The statement quoted the Commissioner of Police in Anambra, Ikioye Orutugu, as saying that the offence contravened Section 419 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act, which deals with obtaining property by false pretence.

“It is a felony that carries a potential penalty of three years’ imprisonment,” Mr Orutugu said.

He expressed concern over the level of moral decadence among some Nigerians, who take undue advantage of sick people to make quick money.

The commissioner of police directed that the relatives of the sick people be questioned to ascertain their culpability.

He said the suspects would be charged after the investigation.

Regular scenes in Nigerian cities

Sick people begging for alms in public places, especially around bus stops, is a regular scene in some Nigerian cities. The number is bound to keep increasing as poverty and hunger keep increasing in Africa’s most populous country.

“Every morning on my way to work, I see more people with terminal illnesses sleeping under bridges and begging at bus stops. It’s heartbreaking and overwhelming.

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“This isn’t the Lagos I knew a few years ago. Government should do more to help these people,” BusinessDay newspaper quoted Tola Kunbi, a development sociologist, as saying recently.

According to the paper, the sociologist said the increase in destitution and people with health challenges could also be tied to urban migration, inequality, and lack of affordable housing.

(NAN)