Gladys Nweke
The Rivers State Commissioner for Social Welfare and Rehabilitation, Mr. Damiete Herbert Miller, has blamed oil companies for rising cases of violence and drug abuse amongst the youths in Niger Delta region.
He emphasised on the rising number of beggars on the streets of Port Harcourt and its environs, insisting that 90% of the beggars are brought in from neighbouring states on daily basis.
The Commissioner who disclosed this in an interview with TPCN stressed that, as a result of the influence of drugs, the boys joined cult groups while the girls no longer go to school.
He noted that the oil companies operating in the Niger Delta region are only talking about Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), what about Social Impact Assessment (SIA)? Nobody is talking about that.
All our boys are now on drugs and our girls are no longer going to school. The oil companies are the major cause of this problem. They buy weapons and drugs for the boys and make them start fighting themselves.
There are lots of evil going on in the society, rape and violence, which are traceable to abuse of drugs. When these boys engaged by the oil companies are destroyed by drugs given to them by these oil companies, it is then they bring them to us for rehabilitation.
The commissioner, who insisted that most of the street beggars are neither blind nor deaf and dump, said any effort made by the state government to clean the streets of beggars would be misinterpreted by the opposition.
Miller said lots of these street beggars are not blind, they are not deaf nor dump. “They see begging as a business. They are just using begging to make money. One day at Waterlines Junction, I watched a supposedly blind lady jumped pass a pothole. If she was blind, how did she see the pothole when she was walking unaided?”
“If you stand at any of these popular junctions and bus stops along Aba Road in the morning, you will see vehicles bringing in these beggars in their hundreds. They see coming to begin Port Harcourt as a normal business and they return to their base every evening.
“After all, we have given the issue of removing the beggars from the streets a thought. But one thing is clear here, the opposition will claim that we are chasing non-indigenes out of our state. That is why we are being careful”
