Ebonyi govt begins rehabilitation of destitute

The Ebonyi State Government says it has begun evacuation and rehabilitation of destitute and persons with mental disorders from the streets of Abakaliki.

The Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Felicia Nwankpuma, who disclosed this on Monday in Abakaliki, said the exercise was to sanitise the environment and ensure the safety of residents.

Mrs Nwankpuma decried the increasing number of destitute roaming the metropolis and expressed the ministry’s commitment to expediting action to curtail the menace and reduce the dangers it posed to society.

She said that about five mentally ill persons, comprising three females and two males, were handed over to the Alex Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital Abakaliki for treatment and rehabilitation.

The commissioner said the action was to promote and protect mentally ill patients.

She said that as a significant step forward to make society a better place, the state government had solicited the support of families to manage patients with mental illness.

“Five of them were picked and taken to hospital for treatment. What we are doing is a stage-by-stage process. First was sensitisation, and now the picking.

“We will identify, engage them with skills and reunite them with their families when they become stable.

“We are trying to assist and encourage families to do the needful and assist the government in making them get better.

“What is important here is the sustainability aspect of the exercise,” Mrs Nwankpuma said.

She kicked against the use of children to beg for money in the street.

The commissioner promised the government’s continuous engagement with adult beggars and the destitute to ensure their children went back to school.

Mrs Nwankpuma appreciated Governor Francis Nwifuru and his wife, Mary-Maudline Nwifuru, for their commitment to rehabilitating and empowering vulnerable individuals in the state.

Assurance of quick recovery

In her remarks, Mary Opara, assistant director of Medicine at the psychiatric unit of the Alex Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital, assured of the five patients’ quick recovery.

Mrs Opara attributed mental health disorders to a combination of factors, including genetic lineage and biological factors.

“Psychological factors like economic hardship are tormenting youths. Others are into drugs, suicidal episodes, communal violence and insecurity,” she said.

Sorochi Otu, head of the Department of Medical Social Works of the hospital, commended Mrs Nwifuru’s rehabilitation efforts and noted that the intervention process would begin with clerking, admission, and treatment of the patients.

Mrs Otu noted that a significant number of factors, which included harsh environment, neglect and negligence from family background, might have contributed to the conditions.

She advised the public to extend care and love to the needy and acknowledge everyone as equal, despite their different capacities.

Vigi Nweze, head of the Social Welfare Department of the Women Affairs and Social Development, expressed optimism that the exercise would eliminate the trend.

“The major objective is to stop children and adults from street begging and hawking,” Mrs Nweze said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the state government, through the ministry, began raiding and evacuating persons with mental health disorders in Abakaliki on 29 November.

NAN recalls that the state government had a fortnight ago carried out sensitisation campaigns against street trading, begging using underage children and the need to care for people with mental health disorders.

NAN