Street begging: Muslim Media Group wants Nigerian governors to ban it

By Steve Oni, Ilorin

Muslim Media Watch Group of Nigeria (MMWG) has admonished state governments in Nigeria to ban street begging.

MMWG further urged the 19 northern states, where it noted begging for alms is highly dominant, to outlaw begging except in worship places.

The group in a statement by its national coordinator, Alhaji Ibrahim Abdullahi, pointed out that Islam is totally against begging for alms, adding that the idea of lining up on Nigeria’s major streets in the states’ capitals and major towns, motor parks, restaurants and petrol filling stations should be stopped.

“To continue to watch the situation unattended, is to live with a time bomb that could explode anytime.

“In fact, the current insecurity in the country could partly be blamed on the lackadaisical attitude of the State Governments of Northern Nigeria to the issue of street begging. Some of them are vulnerable to being recruited for insurgency and terrorism. Therefore, as we search for solution to insecurity, we must target the lazy and terrible youths who are involved in begging,” Abdullahi stated

The group commended Kaduna, Kano and Nassarawa state governments for banning street begging and urged other states to follow suit.

It added: “Islamic religious teachers supporting begging have limited knowledge and must be ignored. As a matter of fact, with Ministries of Social Development in all States in Nigeria, a careful planning could be evolved whereby genuinely poor, old people and people with any form of disability could be catered for instead of encouraging begging as a means of livelihood.

“Parents and guardians who are truly poor could be helped by the State Governments through taking responsibility for their children’s education, clothing, feeding and general welfare. The abdication of this process and lack of planning for the less priviledged among us by all state governments brought us to where we are today.”