The Katsina Government has begun repatriation of 7,054 Almajirai to their respective states.

Alhaji Hussaini Adamu-Karadua, Chairman, Committee on Identification and Collation of Data on Quranic Schools, made the disclosure while handing over some of the Almajirai to officials of Kaduna State Government on Wednesday in Funtua, Katsina State.

He said the repatriation of the Almajirai was agreed upon by all the 19 Northern state governors.

“The committee has identified 7,054 non-indigenous Almajirai pursuing Qur’anic education in various parts of Katsina state.

“They will be repatriated to their respective states in batches, we will employ more workable strategies to achieve our set objective,” he said.

Adamu-Karadua said out of the number, Kaduna state has about 1,400 Almajirai studying in various parts of the state.

He added that about 2,000 of the students were from neighbouring Niger Republic, while the rest were from other states in Nigeria.

In her remarks, Hajiya Hasfat Muhammad-Baba Kaduna State Commissioner for Human Services and Social Development thanked the Katsina state government for taking care of the children.

Fr. Mbaka calls for calm

“The children will be better-taken care of by their parents.

“The Kaduna State Child Welfare and Protection Law have made provisions for the protection of these children, while the government has provided adequate funding for child protection services.

“The children will be taken back to their respective local government areas.

“We will make sure that they are taken care of by their parents and enrolled into the basic education system while pursuing their Quranic education.

“We are not banning Quranic education, we never did that.

“I assure you that we are ready to receive more and more children,” she said