The Ohanaeze Ndigbo and town union leaders in Anambra State have threatened to resort to self-help to stop influx of Almajiri children into the area, especially at a time when the Coronavirus pandemic is ravaging the country, and when many of those children had been confirmed to carry the virus.
National President of Anambra State Association of Town Unions, Chief Alex Onukwue, issued the threat, in Awka, the Anambra State capital, during a press briefing.
Onukwe also said the Ohanaeze and the town leaders believed that the intention of such unscrupulous individuals ‘shipping Almajiris into the region, was ‘ungodly’ and as such totally unacceptable.
According to him, “The Anambra State Association of Town Unions, on behalf of all the communities of Anambra State, wishes to express our disgust and total disappointment with the ongoing wicked efforts by some desperate citizens of this country, who’re now engaged in the wicked acts of shipping strange persons from Northern Nigeria to the South of the country, Anambra State and the South-East inclusive.
“We wish to warn that should this callous business of shipping strange persons, almajiris or not, continue, the communities of Anambra State will be left with no choice but to confront the situation with all the seriousness it deserves. We can no longer take it as child’s play,” he said.
Also speaking at the briefing, President of Anambra State chapter of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Damian Ogene, said it was time the people of the state were allowed to protect themselves.
“We appeal to the state governor to allow us to do the needful by protecting ourselves because I’ve seen that the Federal Government is not ready to protect us.”