A 15-year-old beggar, Mohammed
Ismaila, is a regular face around Mile 12 area of Lagos State. Those who move
between Mile 12 and Ikeja on daily basis, will, at one point or another, see
him crawling on his stomach begging for alms.
He said that despite that begging had been
outlawed in the state, he took the risk of crawling on the streets pleading for
alms because he wanted to send his younger ones to school.
Ismaila,
who said he was the first of five children, added that he had been on the road
for almost two years.
We gathered
that his family relocated from Arewa, Kaduna, to Lagos, in search of
greener pasture. His mother, however, did not relocate with the rest of the
family, for undisclosed reasons. It was also learnt that his father is a petty
trader at Mile12 Market.
Ismaila
said, “I am used to crawling from Mile12, where I live to Ikeja
under-the-bridge every day. I want to train three of my siblings, who are
in school. I want them to have the advantage of education that I did not have.
“Sometimes,
some commercial bus drivers give me a ride in their buses to Ikeja, but many
other days, I crawl.”
He
said he did not regret his disability because he believed that it was the way
God wanted it, adding that getting a wheelchair was not a bad idea.
He
said, “I had been begging in Ikeja for almost two years now. I will not give up
because I get money from this and the money is used to send my three younger
ones to school. I am the first child but I prefer if my younger ones are trained,
because by God’s grace when they become something in life tomorrow, they will
help me too.”
The
beggar said he was not born crippled. He said the circumstances surrounding his
ailment was mysterious and could not be explained.
He
said, “I was not born this way. I woke up one morning and I could not feel my
legs; till today I still cannot feel my legs. I am the only person in my family
who is disabled. That is the reason why I believe that it is the way God wanted
it.”
A
phone dealer, identified simply as Michael, said he had been noticing Ismaila
crawling under the bridge for more than a year.
He
said, “I opened a shop in computer village about a year ago, and I have been
seeing this beggar.
“Motorists
pass in their flashy cars and splash mud and water on him. It is only passersby
and commercial motorists that give him money.”
Our
correspondent learnt that Ismaila brings spare clothes everyday, which he keeps
with an elderly woman, Mrs. Alice Johnson, who sells food under the bridge.
Speaking
with our correspondent, she said, “I decided to help him keep his clothes out
of compassion. It is not easy to see someone like that and just turn your back
on such a person.
“I
usually give him food every evening before he goes home.”
She
said Ismaila usually gets to Ikeja by 7am and leaves by 6pm everyday.
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