The government of Anambra State has detained a woman, Eneh Ogechukwu, for employing a 10-year-old daughter to beg for alms despite repeated orders to stop.
Ogechukwu, 27, of Enugu State’s Udi community, was apprehended in Anambra State’s Oyeolisa Ogbunike region employing a 10-year-old girl from Benue State for alms begging and other misdemeanours.
Ify Obinabo, the Commissioner for Women and Social Welfare who detained her on Friday, also handed her over to police, stating she will be charged in court.
Obinabo, who expressed dissatisfaction with the development despite her frequent cautions to culprits to stop immediately, warned not to let anyone who is caught again go free.
She said, “Anambra State is not a place where perpetrators of crime thrive, especially using children for begging. We will continue to get as many defaulters as possible until sanity is brought to the state.”
When interrogated, the culprit said she was only trying to help the 10-year-old girl and her family solicit support from the public in order to get money for the child’s medical treatment.
She informed the commissioner that the said girl is suffering from tumor disease and her tummy became protruded, hence she started using her to solicit for alms to cater to the needed surgery.
She disclosed that she started using kids for begging in December 2022, and has so far made the sum of N100,000 but their doctor demands the sum of N400,000 for the tumor surgery.
After the questioning, the culprit was handed over to the Ogidi Police Division and the case was transferred to State Criminal Investigation Department in Awka and will soon be arraigned before the Children, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Magistrate court in Awka.
The commissioner thereafter took the 10-year-old to the hospital for medical examination and possible treatment.