Ganduje begins deportation of almajiri in Kano State

Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State has ordered the deportation of almajiri children to their homes as part of efforts to curb the spread of coronavirus in the state.

Ganduje made this known on Sunday after receiving a situation report from the state's task force on COVID-19.

He also revealed that an almajiri committee has been set up under the leadership of Murtala Garo, commissioner for local government.

“We closed all schools in the state to curb the spread of the pandemic but we found out that existence of almajiri schools is constituting a stumbling block,” he said.

“We have complete records of all almajiris and their schools in Kano. So far, over 2,000 almajiris had gone back to their states.”

The governor revealed that the different categories of almajiris would be taken care of and that the first category from Bauchi, Katsina, Jigawa, Kaduna and Niger Republic would be evacuated first.

The second category who are indigenes would be enrolled in boarding schools in the state.

“For the third category who are sleeping on the streets, markets and under the bridge, we will take them to our boarding schools where we will provide them with uniforms and feeding,” he added.