By David Odama, Lafia

Nasarawa State Governor,  Abdullahi Sule has vowed to wipe out street begging in the  state even as he  warned parents who subject their wards to begging in the name of Almajiri to desist  or face the wrath of the law.

Governor Sule declared  that street begging was a crime, adding  that the rights of children must be protected as a bill to  prohibit street begging, prosecution of parents   would soon be in place in the state.

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The governor added that there were about 10 million children in Almajiri system in the entire northern states, affirming that most of them serve as beggars and spending all their time on the streets begging.

Sule who spoke at weekend during an  NTA programme  on the concept of Almajiri system of education in Nigeria, explainined that the Almajiri system had been  completely misunderstood.

Gov Sule said, “Government must establish that it is a crime to abuse a child, it is a crime to bring children to this world and send them to Almajiri system when you cannot take care of them.

It is a crime to send children on  street begging,  Parents must take responsibility, you can’t bring children to this world and dump them somewhere else and expect somebody  to take care of them, so parents must not shy away from their responsibility.” Gov Sule declared.

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While vowing  that Nasarawa State Government under his leadership would make sure that begging on the street was a crime, the governor said that begging was not part of the concept of Almajiri system of Islamic education.

On security, Gov Sule  announced that  his administration was approaching the insecurity  situation in three different dimensions which include providing job through agriculture, vocational and technical skills as well as ensuring that parents who send their children to Almajiri school are able to take care of such children

Vanguard News