Despite growing cases of COVID-19, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has urged Northern Governors to postpone the expulsion of students of the ‘Almajiri’ educational system.
POLITICS NIGERIA reports that the governors recently issued a statement, noting the risk the children are exposed to due to the virus. Also, they resolved to ban the Almajiri system and repatriate the students to their home state.
It should be noted that Kano state expelled 432 almajiri to Katsina, 63 to Yobe and 198 to Kaduna on April 21.
Meanwhile, the Director of MURIC, Ishaq Akintola, on Friday, explained that the mass expulsion would inadvertently aid the caseload of COVID-19 in the receiving states.
He said: “The expulsion of almajiri by State governments is wrongly-timed.
”Expectedly, the Northern states are beginning to take responsibility and there is every reason to believe that plans are already on ground to take good care of those almajiri on arrival in their home states. The motive behind it is commendable.”
Mr Akintola explained that the children are being exposed to great danger as the expulsions coincide with the COVID-19 outbreak.
He added: ”To make matters worse, significant numbers of these almajiri are testing positive to Coronavirus thereby swelling the COVID-19 caseloads of their receiving states and making the management of this global pandemic more difficult for Nigerian authorities.
”Unfortunately, some of these almajiri are also escaping to southern states, potentially spreading COVID-19 to every nook and cranny of Nigeria.
“It is clear that the concerned Northern States appeared to have acted without consulting Islamic scholars who are at their beck and call. Islam opposes the idea of leaving a city under plague attack.
”The Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) warned that, ‘If a plague breaks out in a city and you are living there, do not leave it. And if you are about to enter a city and there is a plague there, do not enter there”
He appealed to the security agencies to strictly enforce the ban on interstate travels, including stemming the tide of interstate almajiri ‘exports’.
Akintola, however, advised that the almajiris should be gathered in a few central locations, get tested for the Coronavirus for the infected to be isolated and treated promptly.
“Many of the index cases in some states have been traced to people who came in from outside such states.“We enjoin northern governors to postpone the expulsion of almajiri until the COVID-19 pandemic is over.
“That way, this scourge will be nipped in the bud among them and we would have prevented the spread of COVID-19 via infected almajiri to the whole of the country,” he said.
