The Anambra State government has said it has cleared the state capital, Awka, of urchins and removed kid beggars off the street, just as they would be sent back to school, at an expense to be borne by the state government.

An agency of the government, Awka Capital Territory Development Authority (ACTDA), in a press release said henceforth, it would not tolerate street kids in the state capital after the evacuation.

It also warned members of the public who bring gift items like food to designated areas where the kids stay to beg for alms, to desist from doing so.

The statement read: ?Henceforth, ACTDA strongly warns all individuals and groups to desist from distributing any form of alms or gifts to the destitute in public spaces.

?Rather, we urge all charitable acts to be channeled through accredited organizations such as orphanages, care homes and registered non-governmental organizations where support can be professionally administered to those in need or their private homes and spaces that do not constitute nuisance.

?Be advised that anyone caught engaging in the open distribution of items to the destitute in public spaces within the Awka Capital Territory will be deemed to be enabling civil disorder and will be prosecuted in accordance with the law. The children will be sent back to school by the agency, and we will not want to see more children on the streets.?

The agency said those that use the children as street peddlers of goods have been warned to desist from such acts as the government would apply the full weight of the law on them.

The Coordinator of Child Care Initiative (CCI), an NGO, Mr Chuka Nnorum, in a separate release, commended the Anambra State government for its drive towards social reorientation and ridding the streets of urchins.

He noted that this move is a step in the right direction to avert the growth of touts and hoodlums in the capital city.

?This is a welcome development and we commend the governor for that and we advise their parents and relatives to send them back to school or engage them in the One Youth Two Skills programme of the state government or take advantage of the free education policy of the government to send them back to school,? he said. (THISDAY)

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