A recent investigative report titled "Inside Benin City’s Streets: Drugs, Hunger & Survival" has cast a harrowing light on the daily realities of the displaced and disillusioned living on the margins of Edo State’s capital. Through a series of raw, firsthand accounts, the report follows the journey of a man navigating a life defined by extreme hunger, the pervasive influence of narcotics, and a relentless cycle of survival. His story serves as a grim window into the systemic failures that push individuals toward the street, beginning with the death of his grandmother—a loss he identifies as the primary catalyst for his descent into homelessness.
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The narrative reveals a profound breakdown of the traditional family unit, as the speaker describes the isolation of having siblings who offer neither financial support nor basic acknowledgment of his existence. This total lack of a safety net forced him into "the street life," a decision he describes not as a choice, but as a desperate response to his circumstances. While he admits to a past involvement in the drug trade to survive, he claims to have stepped away from those activities, though he remains acutely aware of the high crime rates and volatility that define his immediate environment.
Trust has become a casualty of this lifestyle; the speaker explains that past betrayals have led him to view every person he encounters as a "suspect," effectively severing his ability to form the community bonds necessary for social mobility. Despite an expressed yearning for a better life and a departure from the pavement, the report highlights a paralyzing lack of agency. With no clear starting point or institutional guidance, the future for those in his position remains an uncertain landscape of daily survival, underscored by the feeling that they have been largely forgotten by both kin and country.
With Chude
