WHILE the current Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, battles sleepless nights over the rising influx of indigenous beggars into the nation’s capital city, their foreign counterparts have found their way into Abuja and are taking refuge at some satellite locations within the the city.

The federal government on Tuesday, February 11, 2025, announced the setting up of a committee which comprises the Nigerian Police, Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, Department of State Service (DSS), amongst others, to tackle the menace of beggars within the metropolis.

Incidentally, a community of beggars from neighbouring Niger Republic has also found their way into Abuja and are taking refuge in different locations, including the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) flyover bridge at Lugbe. 

These beggars comprising of young, aged, and disabled, mount both sides of the bridge from 7:am daily. Some squat on the hard concrete, while others stand, plates stretched out, in silent plea for alms from commuters.

A visit to the location showed mothers cradling crying infants, their weary faces etched with struggles, while barefoot children weaved between the clusters of pedestrians. 

‘How we are ‘smuggled’ into Abuja to beg’

On a cool evening in 2022 at Matameye, Niger Republic, a 35-year-old Fatima Ibrahim, was busy with house chores alongside her five children when the deep hum of an approaching truck startled her.  It was the same truck that had smuggled her neighbour across the border months earlier. The vehicle rumbled to a stop in front of her neighbour’s door.

“That day, my neighbour and several others, were brought back from Abuja. Another neighbour, who didn’t return, sent money through the driver for the five children she left behind,” Fatima told The ICIR.

According to her, she came to Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city, after her neighbour informed her that the truck would be returning the following week.

“I took three of my children along with my crippled husband and left the rest with their grandparents. Since I arrived, I’ve been sending money to them,” she explained.

Like Fatima, Zaria Ado, the leader of the beggars, who sat hunched on the pavement, her frame thin and weary, said she doesn’t have official papers. However, she revealed that she had been traveling to Niger and back to check on the children she left back home. 

\Begging Without Borders: Is Abuja the New destination for foreign beggars?While it is unclear how many of these Nigerien beggars are scattered throughout the capital city, she confirmed that there are over thirty women on her side of the bridge. But she could not say the number of beggars on the other side, which appeared more crowded.

“Everyone here is from Niger. Many of our people are here in Abuja. We are only here to find food to feed our children because the severe hunger in our country is too much to handle,” she said, as she adjusted the tattered, faded hijab, revealing the toll hunger and hardship had taken on her.

While pointing out that security operatives do not chase or disturb them, Zaria acknowledged that some Nigeriens have been in Abuja longer than she. She said she arrived Lugbe two years before the end of the Presidnet Muhammdu Buhari’s administration.

‘Tragedy led me to begging’

On that fateful day, in 2023 when attackers stormed Mai Adua, Ryahia Dairu’s village without warning, firing their lethal weapons indiscriminately, setting homes on fire, and causing panic among the villagers, Ryahia’s life took a different turn. She said her husband, in an attempt to protect his family, was killed in the crossfire. Her two sons, caught in the brutality of the attack, also lost their lives.

Amidst the confusion, Ryahia told The ICIR that her remaining children were forced to flee for their lives, and she was yet to reunite with them.

“The attackers showed no mercy, and many villagers were either killed or abducted. I narrowly escaped as I quickly fled with my surviving child in the direction of a nearby town,” she recalled.

She said the trauma of witnessing such violence and losing so many family members in one brutal assault left her devastated.

“We followed a truck that brought us and other people to Abuja, to beg on the streets as a means of survival,” Ryahia narrated.

‘Our struggles for survival’

“We go without bathing for days. There’s no time, no place, no water. We just sit there, waiting for someone to give us something, anything,” Zaria said. 

Another beggar, Mariam Ibrahim, 34, told The ICIR that a truck brings more Nigeriens into the FCT every night.

For Mariam, sitting on the bridge all day was even harder. She said that the lack of movement and the scorching sun made it unbearable.

“I couldn’t bear it. Sometimes, people don’t even move around, but you sit there all day with nothing.”

Instead of staying in one place, Marian started walking around, scavenging empty water bottles and plastic containers, for sale.

“It wasn’t easy, but it paid off. I make up to N3,000 a day that way,” she said, with a weary smile. “It’s better than sitting on the bridge.

“Not more than five people here are from Katsina State; the rest are all from Niger Republic. Every night, trucks bring more of them into the city. Just yesterday, three trucks arrived with more people. Now, they are scattered across Abuja, begging for alms,” she said.

Mariam said that all the beggars pay a monthly fee of N1,000 to their group leader for permission to beg on the bridge.

“The beggars in the other wing also contribute dues to the leaders, who claim they need the money for bail whenever almajiri children were arrested and detained,” she said.

Leza Ibrahim, a widow, revealed that in 2024, she travelled for two days by road in a truck that brought over twenty Nigeriens to Lugbe. After a brief return home, she came back in January 2025.

The 50-year-old, formerly a petty trader, explained that the severe hunger in her country led her to this begging situation.

The widow said this was the first time she ever begged in her life. She recounted how she manages to feed her children with less than N1,000, which is the much she sometimes earned in a day.

She explained that after each day’s begging, they head to a nearby truck garage; an abandoned space filled with the sound of idling engines and the smell of oil and rust.

“Some days, I prepare a mixture of Garri with a sprinkle of salt and water for my children because I make less than N1,000,” she said.

Talatua Basiri, who earns at least N1,500 daily, says she sends money and food to her children through the truck driver that regularly checked on them.

“My husband is in our village with our seven children. We have the truck driver’s phone number, so I call him whenever I need to send money home to my family.”

Nana Baraka, who lost her only son—who had been providing for her and her seven children—in 2024, joined the beggar’s community eleven months ago.

“I have never begged in my life, but the hunger became too much for me to bear. My son had worked at a block industry here in Abuja for several years, sending food and money to us in the village. However, he was diagnosed with lung cancer and passed away in 2024. That is why I came to Abuja to beg for alms, as I no longer have any other benefactor.”

Nana, whose daughter was hit by a bike two weeks ago while begging on the bridge, said the girl hasn’t been able to walk since the accident and has been in the garage without proper medical attention.

“I never knew how to beg for alms in my life; this is my first time. Life has been very difficult.”

Beggars ferried into Nigeria despite border closures

Former President, Muhammadu Buhari, in 2019, ordered the closing of Nigeria’s international land borders against all the country’s neighbours in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

He said that the move was to encourage Nigerians to produce food for their consumption. However, in spite of the border closure, Zaria and other Nigeriens not only found their way into the country but made it straight to the capital city, right under the nose of the Nigerian Immigration Service. The Niger–Nigeria border is over 1,600 kilometres, irrespective of which border crossing they used they would have passed an average of two Nigerian states to get to the FCT.

Even though the ECOWAS Protocol on Free Movement stipulates the right of ECOWAS citizens to enter, reside, and establish economic activities in the territory of other member states, it however offers a three-step roadmap to achieve freedom of movement of persons after fifteen years. The protocol allows citizens of ECOWAS countries to move freely and visit any other ECOWAS country without requiring a visa.

For up to 90 days, citizens can stay in any ECOWAS member state without any prior administrative or police formality linked to the stay. The right to reside in an ECOWAS member state is based on the presentation of a residence card or residence permit issued to all citizens who desire one.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu reinforced the border closure when he assumed office in 2023 as part of the sanctions on the Niger military junta.

This was in accordance with the ECOWAS sanction on Niger Republic after its presidential guards toppled President Mohamed Bazoum.

Despite the reinforcement of this sanction, The ICIR investigation in February 2024, revealed how smugglers and commuters operate at the Nigeria, Niger border, paying between N200 to N500 at each border checkpoint under the watch of the Nigerian security operatives.

It is unclear whether the beggars were smuggled into the country or possibly trafficked by a syndicate that brings them in and exploit them for their own gains. 

Not long after assuming office,  President Tinubu directed the opening of Nigeria’s land and air borders with the Republic of Niger and the lifting of other sanctions against the country.

He said that the directive was in compliance with the decisions of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government at its extraordinary summit in February 2024, to also lift economic sanctions against Mali, Burkina Faso, and Guinea.

Even with the reopening of the border, the ECOWAS Protocol clearly states that the right of entry, residence and establishment are progressively established in the course of a maximum transitional period of fifteen (15) years from the definitive entry into force of this protocol by abolishing all other obstacles to free movement of persons and the right of residence and establishment. 

Nasiru El-Rufai, who served as the FCT Minister between 2003 and 2007, under the late Umar Musa Yar Adua administration launched the fight against street begging and repatriated a large number of street beggars to their various states.

Aliyu Umar, who was the FCT minister between 2007 and 2008, returned 395 beggars to their states while 113 were prosecuted.

Adamu Aliero, who was the FCT minister between 2008 and 2010, also banned street begging and raised a 150-member corps to arrest offenders.

Similarly, under Senator Bala Muhammad, in 2014, there was an arrest of 172 beggars.

The Buhari administration launched its fight against street begging in May 2016, and over 200 beggars were arrested and returned to their states.

In October 2024, Wike gave street beggars one week ultimatum to vacate the streets of the capital city while expressing concern over the growing presence of beggars in the city. 

He said he launched a sweeping crackdown on 34 beggars, scavengers, and street vendors across various parts of Abuja.

Not long after that, a group of scavengers, beggars, and petty traders, among others, filed a suit against the Wike, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP); Director-General, Department of State Services and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), demanding N500 million in damages over an alleged breach of their fundamental rights.

A human rights lawyer, Abba Hikima, filed the suit on their behalf before Justice James Omotosho of a Federal High Court in Abuja on 20th November 2024.

Expert raises security concerns

“This highlights the porous nature of the capital city,” said the Managing Director Beacon Security and Intelligence Limited, Kabir Adamu.

He noted that Lagos is the only state in Nigeria that has begun developing an advanced security system spread across its local government areas, adding that the FCT, on the other hand, lacks such a system, making it particularly vulnerable in situations like this.

While maintaining that alms begging reflects the country’s socioeconomic condition, the security expert emphasised that the absence of a coordinated security system allows begging to foster criminal activities, making the city vulnerable to security threats.

“It could be an organised begging network where individuals work for someone who pays them monthly. This suggests that criminals could exploit the situation by strategically placing beggars across the city to coordinate terrorist attacks,” he added.

Adamu further highlighted irregularities with the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) and negligence in the country’s data and security systems. He urged the government to conduct a scientific sociological investigation into the effectiveness of checkpoints in Nigeria.

“During a recent road trip to a neighbouring state, I encountered 46 security checkpoints where officers were collecting money from trucks and public vehicles. This practice has contributed to the rising cost of food across the country and has also created loopholes that allow criminals to gain entry,” he said.

The ICIR reports that in January 2025, the NIMC identified over 6,000 Nigeriens registered on its database with the National Identification Number (NIN).

FCT Minister, NIS, Police keep mum

On Wednesday, February 12, 2025, this reporter contacted the Chief Press Secretary to the FCT Minister, Tony Ogunleye, to inquire how the ministry deals with local and foreign beggars in curbing street begging. Ogunleye promised to respond on Thursday, February 13, but never did, despite multiple follow-ups.

In the same vein, the Public Relations Officer of the Nigeria Immigration Service, A.S. Akinlabi, was contacted on Wednesday, February 12, 2024 to give clarity on ECOWAS Protocol but had yet to get an official response as at press time.

Also, on Wednesday February 18, a text message was sent to the Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the FCT command, Josephine Adeh, seeking comments on the matter. The message was not responded to.