Almajiri To Blame For Insecurity-- Abu Lolo

Abu Lolo

The Niger state governor, Abubakar Sani Bello, also known by the  nom de guerre, Abu Lolo, has alleged that ‘almajiri’ is to blame for the insecurity bedeviling the northern Nigeria. 

He called on the 19 northern states of the federation to take measures against the almajiri tradition and to do more in caring for orphans. 

He made the assertion at a security summit organized by the Nigerian Police Force in Lafia, the Nasarawa state capital, yesterday 23^rd January where he was made chairman of the North Central Governors Forum.

Almajiris are children of northern Nigerian origin put by their parents under the care of individuals who are supposed to give them Islamic guidance. They however become child street beggars due to deprivation.

The summit was named Nigeria Police Regional Security Summit and themed”Strategic Partnership for Effective Community Policing in the North-Central Zone”. The governors of all six north central states (Nasarawa, Niger, Plateau, Kogi, Kwara, Benue and the FCT) and the Inspector-General of Police, Muhammad Adamu, were in Attendance.

In an audio played by the state on Crystal FM, the governor while speaking on the security challenges facing the region mentioned “this almajiri”, "almajiri is not begging" and then later on said “Will become a problem for us in the future”. What 'almajiri' has to do with banditry and kidnapping remains the puzzle.

The announcement of Abu Lolo as the chairman of the forum has irked many Nigerlites who see him as undeserving owing to the rising spate of insecurity in his own state, Niger state. The state used to be among the most peaceful in the country, all that has changed since the coming of the Abubakar Sani Bello-led administration.

Between June and December 2019 alone, at least 62 people were killed by bandits operating in the state while over 3, 200 others were forced to abandon their homes and become IDPs.

In the Thursday security summit, 37 bandits were reported to have pleaded with the forum to facilitate their re-integration into the wider community.