The Hisbah Commission in Kano State has said that 230 children caught sleeping on the streets would be sent back to their states after undergoing rehabilitation.

They were reportedly arrested during a night raid.

A source at the Hisbah said the operation was carried out in Fagge between 1am and 2am. Many children were arrested while asleep and taken to Hajj camp. The children were provided with mattresses at the camp where they are taking Quranic lessons.

While some of the children came from broken homes, others are from the neighbouring states like Zamfara and Katsina where banditry has turned many into refugees in other safe places, it was gathered.

A 12-year-old boy at the camp who simply gave his name as Hamza said he was arrested at Farin Masallaci in Fagge while he was asleep.

“I am enjoying this place because they are feeding us with Tuwo, Jollof rice with beef or fish, tea and bread every day.

‘’I have been on the street for over two years, scavenging to survive,” Hamza said.

He said his father is living at Mai Tsidau village in Danbatta Local Government Area after his separation from his mother who has remarried.

Another boy, Kabiru Nasiru Muhammad, said he liked the camp because of the food they are being served every day.

The 11-year-old said, “My father, an auto mechanic, lives in Yan Kaba Nasarawa Local Government Area but my mother is late. She died six years ago. I have been living on my own for the last four years until Hisbah brought me here.”

Sources at the Hisbah commission said the rehabilitation is a pilot project initiated by the state government to rid the state of street beggars and that once the government gives the nod, more raids would be organised.

The Director General of the Hisbah Commission, Dr Abba Sufi, said the arrested children were not school pupils locally known as ‘almajirai’ but children going to Kano to beg.

“When we arrest these street children, we ask them where they come from and why they roam the streets aimlessly and even sleep on bare floors. So, while we are rehabilitating them, we are also profiling them so that we can contact their parents for possible reunion. Those from other states would be taken to their states or origin,” the DG said.