The Federal Government on Tuesday urged the Northern Governors to suspend the interstate movement of Almajiri children. It added that the decision of the Northern Governor will frustrate the efforts of the FG to combat the pandemic.
This was disclosed on Tuesday through the Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 and Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, during the media briefing of the PTF.
The SGF concern was as a result of the decision of the Northern Governors to ban the Almajiri system of education through a statement after their meetings on April 21.
It was also decided at the meeting that the children should be sent to their parents or state of origin.
The SGF expressed that “This is not the time for movement of Almajiri because of interstate lockdown. If you say interstate movements are banned, I don’t think that movements of Almajirai are essential movements.”
Kano and Nasarawa are some of the states that have been repatriating the Almajiri back to their state of origin.
However, some of the children have been tested positive for COVID-19. For instance, the Kaduna State Government on May 2 said that 21 out of the 61 Almajiri that were deported to the state from Kano have been tested positive for the coronavirus.
It had also been reported that some of the children are being hidden in vehicles carrying food and brought to other regions of the country. Many southern states in the country had frowned at this development.
The PTF Chairman also appealed state governments to let their actions and enforcement be in line with the guidelines provided by the PTF.
According to him, “The virus does not respect boundaries neither does it respect status. All state governments are, therefore, urged to strengthen their monitoring and enforcement machinery in collaboration with the security agencies.”
