The deportation of students of the Almajiri educational system by State governors in the North has begun as the region battles growing cases of COVID-19.
Derived from the Arabic ‘al-Muhajirun’, an Almajiri is a person who leaves his home in search of Islamic knowledge.
Although the controversial system has enjoyed a popularity spanning centuries, the pandemic is causing a major interruption in its operations.
The Katsina State government yesterday received 435 students expelled from Kano State. The Secretary to the Government of Katsina State, Mustapha Inuwa, took custody of the indigenous students at the Katsina-Kano border at the early hours of the day.
Kano State Commissioner of Education Muhammad Kiru led his state’s team at the handover. Inuwa said Katsina had also taken similar measures by closing down Islamic and Quranic schools and returning all Almajiri to their parents including those from the Niger Republic.
He added that the children would undergo another round of health examination at the NYSC Camp in Katsina before being transported to their various communities across the state.
Similarly, Kebbi State received 40 Almajiri students deported by the Kaduna State government.
On Tuesday, Kano State Commissioner of Education Muhammad Sanusi-Kiru had explained that the deportation was to safeguard public health and stem the spread of the pandemic.
Stressing that the exercise would be continuous, he said in a statement: “The Almajiri students will be evacuated to Katsina, Kaduna, Jigawa, Yobe, Bauchi, Zamfara, Gombe, Nasarawa States and the Niger Republic.”
He noted: “Against the misconception of some people in the society that the government is planning to stop Qur’anic schools in the state, it was an effort to bring sanity to the system. It is also part of a comprehensive effort to prevent the spread of coronavirus.”
