“Begging is humiliation,” Kaduna Governor insists on ban

Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai has said that there’s no going back on his government’s recent ban on begging in the state.

The governor made the comments on Tuesday, June 14, 2015, during his visits to the Kano Road beggars’ colony and the Kaduna State Rehabilitation Centre.

El-Rufai said:

“We had to take an unprecedented decision to ban beggars in Kaduna State because of the security threat that some of the beggars and hawkers pose to the rest of the populace.”

“Having taken the decision, we have to find ways and means to rehabilitate these people by training them to have a skill and then assist them in terms of finance to start their own business. Our visit here reveals that our rehabilitation centre needs rehabilitation. The facilities are in a state of disrepair.”

“We think the overriding need to secure the lives and property of the over eight million people that live in Kaduna State is superior to that of those that think they have a right to beg.”

“Begging is not a profession; begging is humiliation. We don’t believe in it. There is no going back on the ban on street begging, but we are not going to repatriate anybody. The problem is here and we will solve it here. We want to empower our people so that they don’t beg and that is what we are working on as a government.”

The beggars in the state had launched a protest on Saturday, July 11, and threatened to sue the government for infringing on their fundamental human rights to movement.

El-Rufai banned begging and hawking in the state after a July 6 bomb blast in Zaria which claimed 25 lives.