The unusual concentration of “Almajiri” street kids on major roads, streets, and intersections has alarmed Abuja residents.
At intersections in Kubwa, Dawaki, Galadima, Gwarimpa, Bwari, Dutse, and the urban cores of Wuse and Garki, these children can frequently be seen carrying plates and pleading for alms from motorists in commercial vehicles.
Some locals blamed the situation on the increase in insecurity in northern states, while others blamed polygamy and parents’ irresponsibility, believing it was more important for them to focus on their own needs than the welfare of their children.
They bemoaned the disturbing trend, which they said not only degrades Abuja’s aesthetics but also ups the petty crime rate in the city’s core and surrounding communities.
Ibrahim Aliyu, 10, one of the street kids, described how he came to be living on the streets of Abuja.
The adolescent, who frequently frequents Kubwa’s supermarkets, recalled: “There were more than 30 of us who came from Katsina. By following grain-delivery trucks to Abuja, we entered the area. I came here to begging because my parents are poor.
The 11-year-old Musa Bala, who is from Dutse, also claimed to have escaped from the Zamfara IDP camp.
I’m from Zamfara, and I left the camp in Gummi after our village was attacked and we were compelled to flee, the man remarked. Since the training school in Dawaki doesn’t provide enough food for everyone, begging here in Dutse Market is more profitable than staying there.
Damaraya Idris, 10, of Dawaki, claimed to be one of 60 kids detained by the Federal Capital Territory Administration’s (FCTA) Social Welfare Department, but he left the school to be on the streets.
“In Islam, we are not allowed to go outside and earn money,” he said. I had to figure out a way out. My four brothers left the house in Kano after my father chased us out and sent us out to fend for ourselves.
I’m from Jigawa, said a different youngster in Bwari who went by the name Abubakar. My age is a mystery. We were taken away from our parents by a relative who claimed they would enrol us in school, but when we arrived in Abuja, we had to engage in begging.
In contrast, Sarah Adeniyi, a trader in Kubwa, noted that while there was an increase in this trend between 2005 and 2006, the street children were foreigners from nearby nations.
“The administration at the time handled it well. The harshness of the environment to which these kids are exposed undoubtedly has a negative impact on their health and may even make them violent. The NNPC junction, supermarkets, and Automated Teller Machines (ATM) were all where these children were waiting to beg. There is a crisis.
Akan Kufre, the owner of a school, expressed his regret over the government’s failure to develop an education system that advances them.
These kids shouldn’t be integrated into an educational system that is far more advanced than theirs, he said. They don’t find education to be sufficiently interesting because of this. With a very inclusive educational system, the government should investigate additional informal ways to arrest their thinking.
A clergyman named Ejike Alfredo also urged locals to help the street kids rather than judge them.
“My church has a welfare committee that is dedicated to providing these kids with food and clothing. We are currently constructing a home where these kids can live safely. A prosperous society cannot be created by the government alone. The plough needs all hands, he said.
Dr. Ndu Nwokolo, managing partner at Nextier and a security expert, told The Guardian that there are both humanitarian and security implications to the street children threat.
He declared: “Their predicament, both in their previous residence and here in Abuja, leaves them vulnerable. In addition to this, it’s believed that some of them work as informants for various organisations, and from studies and firsthand knowledge of the Boko Haram attacks in the northeast, armed non-state groups have used them to gather information.
Regarding the actions that should be taken by the government to handle the situation, he said: “The government should mop them up and move them to a camp where adequate care and education should be provided for them.
The Ministries and Departments in charge should think about collaborating with CSOs and other development organisations like the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in order to address the issue because they happen to make up the critical mass of out-of-school children.
They should be interviewed and given some kind of psychosocial support, especially if they have experienced violent conflict firsthand or in the past, without being given a profile, once more.
“Starting the deradicalization of children for those connected to any insurgent group will be beneficial. The majority of Abuja’s residential areas now have a neighbourhood watch organisation; this should be used to keep an eye on things, but more importantly, it should cooperate with locals and the FCT authorities to relocate these areas so that they can receive the proper care.
In the meantime, the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), according to Dr. Sani Amar Rabe, Director of Social Welfare Services, is working to permanently reverse the upward trend.
He claims that many of the street kids are not natives of Abuja.
“We recently apprehended more than 90 of them; they are from the neighbouring states. When we got to Kaduna, we found out that 60 of the people who said they were from Kaduna were lying.
“While none of them knew where they were coming from, some claimed to be from Zamfara. We are facing a significant challenge in that regard. Any assumption that FCTA is not doing enough is false. One of the difficulties is the budget’s limited capacity.
People in the public excel at criticising rather than helping to strengthen the government. They ought to become more active. Although these street children have a future, they can also be very wild and corrupted. On the plough, all hands should be.
