Niger Intercepts 104 Almajirai, Returns Urchins To Sokoto

The Niger State Government has repatriated 104 Almajirai intercepted at the entrance of Minna to Sokoto State. The Director General, Child Right Agency, Maryam Kolo, who made this known in Minna on Monday, revealed that the Almajirai were between the ages of four and 10, and made the trip from Sokoto to Minna in a truck. She described the means of transporting the Almajirai on such a long distance in the harmattan cold as wicked and callous. Kolo expressed shock that despite the measures put in place by the government to prevent such incidents, some people still found ways of sneaking children into the state under the pretext of getting them educated. The DG reaffirmed that the state government’s position on the ban on Almajirai and street begging was still valid, “we are not against Islamic education, but what we are saying is that the rights of the children have to be secured and assured”.