Edo State government says it is set to begin evacuation of street beggars who are not ready to accept decent and meaningful ventures.
Gov Godwin Obaseki said this while addressing the Muslim faithful who were on a courtesy visit to the Government House, Benin City, on Monday.
He warned that anyone, whose children were not in school but on the street begging or trading, would be arrested and prosecuted.
Mr Obaseki stressed that in the next few weeks or months, he would no longer allow street begging in the state.
He said his administration believed that basic education was the right of every child in the state.
“There are lots of farm settlements and more hands are needed to cultivate the lands,’’ he noted.
The governor said anybody arrested for street begging would be evacuated to the farm settlement to work.
He noted that if the beggars did not want to work, they would be sent back to where they came from.
On inadequate teachers, he said his administration had employed 3,062 teachers in rural communities to enhance the education system in the state.
Earlier, the Chief Imam of Benin Central Mosque, Abdulfatai Enabulele, commended the governor for his administration’s developmental stride.
Mr Enabulele called on Mr Obaseki to urgently take some drastic steps to check the menace of street begging and trading.
He added that the act was capable of disturbing the peace of the state.
(NAN)