By Izunna Okafor, Awka
It was a shameful and dramatic spectacle on Tuesday in the heart of the Anambra State capital, Awka, as officials of the Awka Capital Territory Development Authority (ACTDA) engaged in a brutal attempt to evict a mentally challenged woman and her children from the city centre using canes. The scene, which played out right opposite the Queen Suite Hotels at the roundabout leading to Uche Ekwunife Crescent, began at about 10:15am when a team of ACTDA operatives stormed the area armed with canes.
On alighting from their vehicle, which is branded “Rapid Response (Awka Capital Territory Development Authority)”, the team first approached the children of the mentally challenged woman, who were sitting in front of a nearby shop, and interrogated them about where they lived. The eldest child among them simply responded “hiala.” Unsatisfied with the response, the officials proceeded to confront their mother —who was seated on the green verge at the centre of the roundabout — and ordered her to pack her belongings and vacate the premises. This triggered a heated exchange of words between them and the woman.
When the woman refused to comply, one of the officials struck her with a cane. Infuriated by that, she attempted to defend herself, only for other members of the team to join in, flogging her repeatedly from all directions. The assault prompted her children to cry out in distress as they helplessly watched their mother being brutalized. The incident quickly attracted the attention of passersby and motorists, who expressed shock and indignation at such scene. The woman, in a desperate bid to defend herself, picked up a short stick and struck, but the caning continued until the officials momentarily backed off, following the exclamations of the crowd.
However, the situation escalated again when the distraught woman, now injured and in tears, hurled a stone at one of the officials (though she missed the target). This provoked another wave of attack, as all members of the team (except their cameraman who was filming the entire thing) now rushed the woman and launched a more severe assault on her, brutalizing and beating her mercilessly with cane while she struggled to fight them off.
This time, the sight of the battered woman and her wailing children compelled bystanders to intervene, with some helping to stop the officials and shield the woman from further harm, even as she began throwing sand at them, still crying and fuming in anger. The crowd’s intervention nearly resulted in a mob action, forcing the ACTDA officials to hurriedly retreat, enter their vehicle and zoom off, leaving the woman and her children behind as they continued weeping and consoling one another.
This reporter, Izunna Okafor, who also witnessed the scene, gathered that the homeless woman and her children have lived in the area for a while and have previously received different forms of assistance from kind-hearted individuals and groups who intended to change situation and give them a better living condition, only for them to return to the streets weeks after to continue with their own lifestyle.
When contacted by this reporter, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of ACTDA, Hon. Ossy Onuko, explained that the agency’s action was borne out of good intention. He lamented that despite repeated warnings from the agency and from him personally, the woman refused to vacate the public space, thereby endangering her life and those of her children. He expressed concern that should an accident occur at the roundabout, the government would be blamed for negligence.
Hon. Onuko insisted that the woman is not entirely mentally unstable as perceived, but someone who deliberately chose to occupy the space with her children. According to him, there are alternative places she could move to, including churches or open spaces, rather than defacing the capital city. He defended the agency’s approach, arguing that attempts to gently evacuate such persons have in the past resulted in violent attacks on his staff, citing an incident where a madman recently stabbed one of his operatives, leading to a hospital bill of over ₦800,000.
He emphasized that ACTDA is also working in collaboration with the State Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Welfare, which is primarily responsible for such cases. He noted that many of those removed from the streets eventually return because they view street begging as more lucrative. He stressed that the defacement of public spaces undermines the government’s efforts to create a clean, orderly, and beautiful capital city, while also highlighting the various challenges the agency faces in enforcing these standards.
Hon. Onuko also highlighted the financial and logistical burdens the government bears daily in trying to keep strategic locations like Aroma Junction clean and orderly, reiterating regrettably that street begging and illegal occupation of public spaces had become a lucrative enterprise for some families who would send out their children to beg, rather than send them to school, despite the free education policy of the Governor Chukwuma Soludo’s administration in the state.
The ACTDA boss, while noting that the public often misunderstands the agency’s efforts, called on residents to support the government’s vision for a clean and organized capital city. He reiterated that the agency’s aim is not to victimize anyone but to enforce necessary measures to protect the city’s image and ensure public safety.
The incident, however, has continued to generate mixed reactions, with many condemning what they described as the brutal approach used by ACTDA operatives, while others sympathized with the agency’s plight in trying to maintain order and safety within the capital city and its environs.
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