Following series of complaints from some Imo citizens over the influx of mentally ill persons in Imo, the state government through the Environmental Transformation Commission, ENTRACO has begun the evacuation of mentally deranged and destitutes from the state capital and its environs.
This is part of the state government’s agenda of rehabilitation. New Echo gathered that they would be taken to rehabilitation centers where the government will seek to their treatment and welfare. The director of operations of the commission Hon. Paschal Nwakamma who disclosed this to newsmen in Owerri stated that the process is in line with the 3R’s policy of Re-construction, Recovery and Rehabilitation.
According to him, the Governor’s Rehabilitation agenda of the state is geared towards rehabilitation of the destitutes and mentally retarded citizens to rehabilitation centers, this he said will free the streets from the nuisance and hazards caused by these persons. He further disclosed that most of the destitutes, from his finding are originally not from the state but brought into the city from neighboring states, vowing that the city of Owerri will be recovered from destitutes and the ones from the state would be Rehabilitated.
He maintained that street begging will be totally prohibited as the government will also evacuate beggers from the streets of Owerri as he maintained that the state capital should not be a dumping ground for beggers and destitutes from neighboring states who come into Owerri at nights to settle. NewsEcho reports that Imo citizens are happy about this development as they explained that the mentally ill are littered around the state capital and its environs.
