Kaduna beggars dare El-rufai, vows to fight ban

The beggars, comprising the blind, deaf, dumb, lepers, and people with sundry disabilities, said they were at the NUJ to express their displeasure with the law banning them from plying their trade. They said they were ready to lay down their lives to have it reversed.

Kaduna state governor Malam Nasiru El-rufai banned street begging in the state last week after a suicide bomber killed 26 people in Zaria.

Spokesperson of the group, Muntari Saleh, said they were particularly miffed with the state government for failing to address the social issues that forced them into begging.

He said the government move was a subtle way of calling them terrorists. They vowed to take legal action against the Governor for defamation of character.

They dared the governor saying they will remain on the streets, until the government gets them gainful employment while insisting that they have the constitutional right to stay wherever they wished until their demands were met.

They said the government should prepare their graves adding that they would fight the battle to the finish.

The beggars, some of whom had fled in droves from Kaduna days after the ban expressed regret for voting Malam el-Rufai as their governor.

But addressing a press conference in Kaduna, spokesman of the governor Samuel Aruwan, explained that the ban of hawking and begging was necessitated by the security situation in the state and to ensure maximum protection of lives and properties.

According to him: "Kaduna State Government's decision to ban hawking and begging in the state was following last week bomb attack that killed 26 innocent citizens and injured 32 persons at the secretariat of Sabon Gari Local Government area of the state.

"The ban of hawking and begging in the state was necessitated by security situation in the state and to ensure maximum protection of lives and properties. The Kaduna State Government under Governor Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai will never unleash pains on beggars and hawkers in  the state.

"The government decision was not aimed or targeted at the vulnerable group but to protect citizens. ‎The government is a responsible government and conscious of its constitutional role to protect citizens and to ensure law and order for common good."