Plateau governor and chair NGF, Simon Lalong
By Raymond Gukas, Jos
Plateau state governor and chairman of the Northern Governors Forum, (NGF), Simon Lalong has declared that no amount of blackmail will stop the evacuation of Almajiria to their respective states of origin by the governors in the region.
He stated this in a state broadcast to the people while reviewing the ongoing lockdown being experienced in the state as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
He said the NGF had agreed on the profiling and return of Almajiria children and wondered why there should be noise on the matter in the name of “human rights.”
“So far, we have returned a total of 601 Almajiris to their States of origin to be tested, reunited with their families and properly cared for. The states include Kaduna (38), Bauchi (419), Kano (92), Jigawa (47), Gombe (5).
“We have also received (119) Almajiris from other States. We received (108) from Nasarawa State and (11) from Gombe State, who have been profiled, and tested. Out of this number, only one (1) tested positive to COVID-19 and is receiving treatment in one of the isolation facilities,” he said.
The governor maintained that for the avoidance of doubt, the Northern Governors are collectively committed to ensuring that all the Almajira children returned to their States are profiled and tested for COVID-19 and other illnesses.
Also, he emphasised that their education and well-being will be handled by their States, which will bring an end to the infamous Almajiri system, which has become a social challenge and appealed for the understanding and support of all stakeholders.
Meanwhile, the four day lockdown period of midnight of Sundays to midnight of Thursdays have been reduced by one day.
From now, it shall be observed from Sunday midnight to Wednesdays pending when situation would improve, he disclosed.
According to him, this was so because the government was “desirous of carrying everyone along, we have noted the concerns raised in respect of the need to have more room for people to secure services such as banking which were limited because of the existing lockdown schedule.”
