The Borno State Government has assured that it will be guided and cautious in handling the problem of the Almajiri boys in the state with regard to the ravaging COVI-19 pandemic.
The government said that the Almajiri required empathy and sympathy as they were victims of a situation they did not create and of a circumstance they could not comprehend.
The Commissioner for Information and Home Affairs, Alhaji Babakura Abba Jato, who is also a member of the State COVID-19 Response Team, stated this.
Speaking in Maiduguri on Tuesday with journalists during the Media Update on the COVID-19 Pandemic in the state, Jato pointed out that most of the Almajiri in Borno today came to the state when they were very small.
The commissioner was reacting to a questions about the state government’s response to the issue of Almajiris in Borno now that some states in the northern part of the country have begun to repatriate them to their home states.
He, however, explained that the matter should be handled with caution.
Jato stated that most of the affected children left their parents at the tender age of three years, when they were taken to Mallams, adding that most of them could not even locate their states of origin not to talk of their individual homes.
The commissioner pointed out that it could have been better for efforts to be collectively concentrated on making life more meaningful for the Almajiris in the light of their predicament, rather than the present approach of repatriation, which he said was not in the interest of unity, even among the northern states.
Jato reminded all that the Nigerian constitution makes it clear that citizens are free to reside anywhere in the country without molestation.
Recall that as a result of the ongoing battle against the coronavirus, some states like Kano, Kaduna and Katsina have repatriated the Almajiris in their respective states to their home states.
In another development, the commissioner told the press that the state’s COVID-19 Response Team would be having a crucial meeting today to review its programme so far and re-strategise to meet challenges ahead.
