Frontline human rights activist and former Kaduna Senator, Shehu Sani has taken a swipe at the Kano State government over the removal of Almajiris from the streets, and their subsequent relocation to presumed states of origin. Kano is home to a huge number of Almajiri, a subset of street ostensibly acquiring rote knowledge of the Koran. The children usually engage in forced begging to feed themselves and their tutors.
With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Kano State government has been raiding the streets and picking up Almajiri who are not of Kano origin and sending them back home to their supposed states of origins. This action of the Kano State government has raised concerns in human rights circles, just as it has attracted criticisms. Weighing on the issue, Senator Sani in a tweet posted to his verified handle, said: “To embrace and accommodate the Almajiri for elections and census and reject and ‘deport’ them for #COVID-19 Is unconscionable.
