•Rake in N45,000 monthly, parade blackberry phones
From ALOYSIUS ATTAH, Onitsha
(princemmy@yahoo.com)
They are regular faces along Onitsha- Enugu expressway. Easily noticeable, they have many things in common – varying degree of deformities mainly due to poliomyelitis attack. All of them are of Northern extraction while their permanent places of daily “business” are the various failed portions of the Onitsha- Enugu highway.
They surface as early as 6am daily while their benefactors are commuters who ply the road and throw naira notes of several denominations at them. They often wave in anticipation anytime a vehicle gets closer to the strategic positions they occupy while their finance controller strains to collect the money sometimes at the risk of being crushed by another vehicle.
A chat with Sunday Sun reporter who had observed them for quite some time, became quite revealing.
At the failed portion of the road, near Amawbia junction, Sunday Sun reporter encountered a special group. Eleven in number, interaction with the group revealed that 9 out of the group hail from Gombe state while the other three are from Borno State.
Posing as a concerned citizen sent by the government to provide better life for them, the most outspoken in the group who identified himself as Idris Adamu gave an insight into their lives and background.
“We are normal human beings though condition has placed us in this situation. I am from Gombe state and most of us have been in Anambra for more than one year now. We live inside Army barracks in Onitsha and we come here early enough to make money so as to help ourselves.
“Though I’m physically challenged as a result of polio, I have a wife just like many of us here and we send money to our families from the proceeds of this begging for alms.
“I enrolled to train under the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) in my state. Unfortunately, when the thing matured and they were to give us money to set up business, they bungled everything. I was also part of David Osunde Foundation (brings out his purse and presents both identity cards to the reporter) and they were to fix us into something meaningful but it has been promises upon promises. That is why we are here and we are hoping for a better tomorrow”, he said.
The beggars’ spokesman was later to drop a bombshell when he told Sunday Sun that he and his colleagues wished that the government would abandon the on-going rehabilitation of the ever-busy road.
While commuters who ply the highway lament the deplorable condition of the road and pray that government expedites action on the pace of work, the beggars are praying another set of prayers that the work stalls forever.
When the reporter asked Idris his position on the road’s condition and its implications on their business, he did not mince words in saying that what is good news to others is actually bad news for them.
“Allah, I must tell you, if government repairs this road fully, hunger may kill us. We don’t have any other business apart from this. We attach ourselves at the failed portions because drivers will always slow down when they approach such bad spots and it is from there that people now throw some money to us. Let Allah put confusion in the minds of contractors and the government so that they will abandon the project or else, hunger may deal with us.”
Communal living
Some of the beggars at a spot near Amawbia roundabout included Ibrahim Isa, Haruna Babangida, Usman Adamu, Bello Mohammed, Abdullahi Shehu, Usman Mohammed. The reporter noticed that the group maintains a common purse and asked how they share their money at the end of the day.
The purse keeper, Abdallah Abdullahi said there was no discrimination in terms of sharing as they divide the money on equal ratio. He said: “If we begin to do survival of the fittest here, the aim of brotherly love among us will not only be defeated but some of us that are highly deformed more than others may not have the strength to struggle when people throw money to us. That is why we decided to maintain a collective purse so that everybody will be accommodated squarely. It is from the common purse that we get our individual shares daily when we finish”, he said.
Good proceeds
As the chat progressed, the reporter noticed some flashy phones brandished by the beggars. One of them flaunted a London-used blackberry and received a call from his new wife that he later identified as Amaria after the call.
Idris disclosed that each beggar takes home a minimum of N800 daily but sometimes between N1200 and N1500 daily on days of better ‘harvests’.
Dreaming of Olympic gold
The reporter later spoke with another set of beggars from the north at Amansea, a boundary between Anambra and Enugu states. Sitting on their roller skaters while some use constructed woods for mobility, this group exuded optimism and excitement. Though their mode of operation is was similar to the other groups, this set comprised of some beggars with several talents waiting to be utilized.
Their spokesperson, Sadiq from Bauchi said that he is a trained sports man who dreams of representing Nigeria in the Paralympics games someday. He said he has been looking for opportunities to showcase his talent to the global world.
Maltreatment by government agents
Before the reporter left the group at Amansea, they barred their minds on their predicament and urged that they should be left alone to mind their business.
“We don’t give anybody trouble while we are not criminals. Unfortunately, those of us that shuttle daily from Enugu to this place have been having it rough in the hands of government agents. The task force constituted by the government arrests those on indecent dressing and mad people in the streets.
“Surprisingly, they have classified us in the same category and we have been banished from the city metropolis. We plead with the government to allow us carry on with our legitimate business because we are not trouble makers.”
The power of money
After the interview with the beggars, it was a different ball game when the reporter wanted to take their picture shots. They vehemently refused their images to be captured for fear that the government may sack them from their means of livelihood, and threatened to stone the reporter if he dared it.
Surprisingly, when some crisp naira notes were given to them and a promise of passing the message for their rehabilitation to the governor was offered, they willingly accepted and raised their hands gleefully as the reporter clicked away.
They shuld all b relocated back to d north.
These northern pigs constitute a whole lot of nuisance on our streets here in d south,let d governors help 2 pack these northern citizens back 2 their disease stricken north 2 prevent d spread of northern disease 2 our clean & hygenic south.
@Gbenga, No be like that nah.. but they should be deported to their states.
They should be shout dead and throw for vultures to feed.
Those bastards muslim north I hate them all. useless
Is not like dat D_ole.nobody is going to shut them dead.they are all our brothers in christ.instead let d govt give order dat they don’t want to see them anyone on the street again because some of them are wicked and some are even involved in this bokoharam of a thing.secondly let d govt construct those roads they normally stay dat wil make them to be rare.
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We love them and there people hate us.
They knew the south east peoples are kind hearted that is why they left their own peoples of the North to seek alm in the heart and hands of the good peoples of the South East that their northerners had been destroying.
The state government should deport these evil men back to Gombe and Borno and their likes found anywhere in Anambra state.We don`t need this kind of people in our midst.We have the Biafran heros to cater for.Gombe and Borno government should shoulder their social and economic responsibilities.Governor Peter Obi should please bundle this miscreants back to the north.Their evil wishes should be for their states and not Anambra state.They are not our citizens.Afterall Governor Fashola of Lagos state doesn`t show mercy when he deports those who are socially and economically unproductive in the state.The activities of these beggars are only dragging us socially backward.
To me,dis people should sent out immediately bcos of dat ugly statement concern our roads. they prefer thier pockets more than our life. Mr peter obi & Mr sullivan Chime should act fast by re~locatn them to thier state. Enough of these Intruders & boko haram spy polluters.
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We should becareful were this Housa Cripple beggers are becouse they are even worst deadler than their healthy Housa brothers.Most of this phisical challange are mean and heartless and i am saying this with experience,they spy against Igbos to their Alhaji that kept them their.You can imagin the kind of dangerous prayer they were praying against the good people of Anambra and Enugu State and entire Igbos that harbours them in their midst that they dont their Federal Road to be repair,God!!! I cant believe this but unlike their kinsmen in the North that always massacares Igbos we peace and loving Igbos accomodate them even wen they were being regected and sent away by their own people.So Governor Peter Obi and Sullivan Chime and other Governors from the South East i think Sun news paper reporters have giving you people a lead and incite about the activities of this spies in disguise of cripples whom might be operating with the Boko Haram so if you people like negret and pay deaf ear for the intelligent report from the Sun news paper reporters
These individuals have not stopped been humans. They never beg/requested for the handicap that nature have befallen them.
We don’t need to send them back to their states even if they kill us in their so call north bcos they are our brothers.God will reward us.But my fear is that since they are already deformed,they can be cheap tools that can been used for suicide bombing.Another thing is that will their deformity not affect healthy Ibos that get close to them?We need to becareful with this beggars.
Our governors should do what Lagos State goverment is doing to them. Garther them in d 911 or trucks & send them back to their states in the North. The evil as they are, they dont want our roads to be reparied. They have evil minds – animals, we are not one & can never be bco we are not related in any aspect of life.