KNSG Commissions New Agency to Tackle Street Begging
By Hussaini Ibrahim Sulaiman, Kano
Worried by the rising case of beggars on the streets of Kano metropolitan, the state government has inaugurated a new agency to tackle the ugly trend.
The agency will focuses on reforming the systems of local Islamic schools known as Tsangaya on admitting students to the schools and ensure no beggars left on the streets of the ancient city of the state.
Speaking during the inauguration of the agency, Alhaji Usman Alhaji, Secretary to the State Government, expressed appreciations to the government by approving the agency and pledged to give maximum support to the agency whenever need arose.
He stressed that: “It’s one of the paramount government’s responsibilities, making sure the safety of its citizens and prevent them from burden.
You can observe that the number of beggars on the streets is visibly increases. Most of them are the persons that are being arresting during night admitting offenses.
“With such records, government has to multiply its spirited efforts and design more holistic roadmap and strategizing its commitments towards addressing the issues
He alleged that most of the unrest and infidelity of prostitution that engulfed the state are getting root from such groups of people.
On his part, the director of the agency restated that the agency will collaborate with Hisbah Board, KAROTA, and motor park stations to smash away beggars from Kano.
According to him, the agency will set up an operation under its veteran personals that will arrest 10, 000 beggars from the streets daily, which is going to last for a week.
He said, the agency will equally indulge on creating more awareness by initiating seminars to the Tsangaya clerics and Islamiyya School groups, adding that, the agency will cooperate with district heads across the forty-four local government areas of the state in order to have the accurate figures of the number of the schools that their students going out for begging in state.
Also speaking during a courtesy visit to his office, Kano Hisbah Commander, Haruna Ibn-Sina, assured the commitments of his Board towards addressing the pervade plague.
He revealed that his Board had a department of Anti-Bara before KNSG expand the operation by creating a new agency.
“We have several programs pertaining to this issue and drawn a lot of good records.
“We are working under same government for the same people therefore we will not hesitate to give whatever contribution required from this side to ensure that this program is not abortive,” he said
An interview with an Almajiri whose name was not identified revealed to the newsmen how he manage to live since he was brought to the local Islamic school in the name of seeking knowledge 2 months ago.
“My father brought me here no food with just five thousand naira given to.
“We are not getting food from the house of our teacher. We use to go and beg to sustain.
“When get money we give the teacher 2/300 and give-out the remaining to my elder brother to keep it for me.
“We’re over 100 in the school and have only 10 toilets that compel us to go and ease on garbage or side of streets,” he said.
