Almajiri system, source of insecurity in Nigeria — CAN

By Abimbola Abatta

Nigeria’s security challenges such as banditry, kidnapping, terrorism and armed robbery have been ascribed to the Almajiri system in the Northern part of the country.

This is just as the Nigerian government was urged to curtail Nigeria’s insecurity by putting necessary measures in place before it consumes the nation.

The chairman, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Imo State, Rev. Dr. Eches Divine Eches, recently revealed this in an interview with journalists in Abuja.

According to Rev. Eches, “You can’t have Almajiri system for life and government in the last 40 years in our nation kept bringing up people without any trace to families, hometowns or nationalities.

“They are scattered all over the street, without you knowing that someday, they will leave the streets and go to the bush where they will begin to do the trade of kidnapping.

“Also, you can’t, in any sane nation, have the likes of Gumi, a religious scholar, going about promoting banditry and you don’t think that this will continue. Yet, that is what we are seeing today. We are not seeing anything more than what we have planted.

“We allowed this thing (insecurity) to continue and it is now going to consume the nation, if drastic measures are not put in place to take them (Almajiri) out of the streets, give them a sense of belonging, put them in school, and help them realise their potentials.

“These bandits we find today were the Almajiri who used to be in front of our houses, begging for food.

“We are praying and that is why God is still sustaining our nation. I trust God will continue to sustain us in Jesus name.”