A middle-aged woman, Mrs. Uju Obiekwe has been arrested by officials of the Anambra State Government for allegedly using persons with fake ailment to beg for alms.

The suspect and her accomplices were apprehended at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University junction, Awka, where they used a young girl with a bandaged stomach to beg for alms from unsuspecting members of the public.

The widow, operating under a group called, the Rescue Helpers People Foundation Incorporation, located in Oba, Idemili South Local Government Area of the state, confessed to joining the group following the demise of her husband.

“I joined the syndicate after the death of my husband. They pay me N1,500 daily,” she said.

Parading the suspects in her office in Awka, the Commissioner for Women and Children Affairs, Lady Ndidi Mezue reiterated the ministry’s readiness to rid the state of mentally challenged people and beggars.

She regretted that most of the beggars were from neighbouring states, warning that nobody had any reason to beg.

Mezue further revealed that her Ministry had empowered several persons in collaboration with the Caring Family Enhancement Initiative of the Wife of the Governor.

“We have trained people who are unemployed at the various Skill Acquisition Centres, after which they were empowered,” she added.