From: Femi Oyelola, Kaduna
The Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) has condemned the recent arrest of over 160 Almajirai from Sheikh Dahiru Bauchi residence in Kaduna, saying brazen use of force on innocent unarmed citizens and declaring the students of such Qur’anic schools, popularly called Almajirai as criminals and persona non grata is unacceptable
President of the Media Forum of the Movement Ibrahim Musa stated this in a statement made available to journalists in Kaduna yesterday.
The statement added that whosoever authorized and executed the attack did not follow due process, since the victims are underage and the arrest can causing them to become traumatised.
“Their handlers were not notified of the impending attack nor told where their wards were taken to until some days after.
“Though we are not surprised by the action of Elrufa’i’s government, we believed it should have done better by going about the project in a civilized manner, but it did not.
“Though the Kaduna state government says its Task Force was enforcing Covid-19 related regulations and rescued almajiri children from Sheikh Dahiru Bauchi’s residence for violating the state’s school closure regulations, land use act and policy of repatriation of almajiri to their states, we believe it is being economical with the truth.
“If Covid-19 protocols are still vague in town, why are mosques and markets still open and schools are about to resume in the next few weeks?
“ Another plausible reason behind this unwanted attack on Qur’anic schools put forward by KDSG was that since March 2020 when Northern Governors Forum decided to jointly end the abuses associated with the Almajiri system, the state government had repatriated 31,092 almajiri children to their states of origin.
“ If that is the case, why is the KDSG action different from that of other Northern states? While in other states Qur’anic schools are being supported by their state governments, in Kaduna state they are being persecuted and branded as criminals.
“In other states the Islamic schools are being reformed and some relevant subjects of the formal education are introduced in such schools, but it is different in Kaduna state which is persecuting them and acting sectarian. One may therefore ask as to why the enmity towards the Qur’an?
“We hereby call on Governor Elrufa’i to rescind his decision to forcefully obliterate all the Qur’anic schools in the state and leave them alone.
“We believe it is counter productive in the long run and unjust. He should learn from his counterparts in other Northern states how they are curbing the government created menace of the Almajiri system of education” the statement read.
