The Kano State Hisbah Board has said its operatives apprehended 931 street beggars in the last two weeks.
The beggars were arrested on major roads, under bridges, markets, railway stations and other strategic locations within local government towns and metropolitan areas, Hisbah -a Sharia police said.
Commander General of the Hisbah Board, Sheikh Dr. Haruna Muhammadu Sani Ibn Sina, who paraded the beggars before newsmen at Hisbah headquarters Sharada, Kano, said that the arrest and evacuation of the beggars were parts of the board’s efforts to curtail street begging in Kano.
He said, out of the 931 beggars apprehended, 320 are males while 611 are females, adding that three of them tested positive to HIV/AIDS while a large number of the underage females are pregnant.
Among those arrested is an old woman found with a huge amount of money, Hisbah said.
Sheikh Ibn Sina said some 536 females and 279 males have been reunited with their families, while 63 of the beggars are still in the board’s custody.
The commander general noted that “Kano indigenes were reunited, through Hisbah commanders across the 44 local government areas, while those from neighbouring states were transported by the state government and handed over to their relatives.”
According to him, the beggars in their custody are being provided with “a three-square meal everyday.”
Answering a question on why most beggars reappear on the streets after being evacuated, the commander general said anyone found guilty of that will be prosecuted, “because Islam prohibits begging.”
Sheikh Ibn Sina alleged that some of the beggars are parts of phone snatching syndicates terrorising people.