The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has released a street beggar caught with N500,000 and $100 cash in Abuja last week.
The woman, 48, was arrested by the FCTA Social Development Secretariat last week after she was found in possession of the money at Adetokunbo Ademola Crescent in Wuse II.
The money was handed back to her on Thursday.
The Director of Social Welfare Services at the FCTA, Sani Amar, confirmed the development.
He said the woman simply identified as Ibrahim kept money she realised from begging over the years without investing it.
Amar said: “It was very fortunate that on February 9 Ibrahim was apprehended among other beggars on Adetokunbo Ademola Crescent in Wuse II.
In all honesty, we never knew that she has such an amount of money on her. What we normally do whenever we apprehend people we search them thoroughly to ensure that they do not carry any object that can harm them or our staff.
“Then, we profile them to know where they come from and what they are doing apart from begging.
“She is mentally sound. She can differentiate between right and wrong.”