Kano State government has just announced at the COVID-19 press briefing that 193 Almajiris have tested positive to the deadly virus (COVID-19).
According to research, the Almajiris are children from poor homes usually sent to Islamic boarding schools. Formal education remains a far cry for thousands of these children. Put into perspective, Nigeria has about 13.2 million out of school children.
The State Commissioner of Education, Sanusi Mohammed Kiru disclosed that a total of 1860 persons were quarantined in three locations in the state, out of which 193 of them tested positive.
Sanusi who is also the head of the state government’s committee on the rehabilitation of Almajiris, explained that 86 of them tested positive at Gabasawa Quarantine camp, 68 tested positive in Karaye, while 38 tested positive in Kiru.
He showed happiness at the initiative to isolate the Almajiris in the state, adding that state efforts at tackling the dreaded disease would have been worse off if they were allowed to continue to spread the disease in these communities.
He recalled that so far the state has admitted a total of 1183 AlmajirIs to the rest of the states in the region such as Jigawa, Kaduna, Katsina, Gombe, Bauchi, Kebbi, and Zamfara States in line with the decision of the Northern Governors Forum to end street begging in the region.
He further disclosed that the state government had established three Almajiri boarding schools for the immediate admission of the Almajiris of Kano State origin, saying that these schools are located in Bunkure, Bagwai and Madobi Local Government Areas.
According to the latest figures by the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) there are 27,110 confirmed cases in the country. Some 10801 patients have been discharged while 590 deaths have been recorded. About 1,257 of the confirmed cases recorded are in Kano State.
