Beggars in Kaduna State yesterday staged a protest over the law prohibiting street begging and hawking. They gave Governor Nasir El-Rufai seven days ultimatum to annul the law.
Typical of Nigerian rulers, ashamed of the poverty they created, Governor El-Rufai had last week signed the bill banning street begging and hawking.
The beggars accused the governor of going contrary to the promises he made to them during electioneering, and threatened to occupy the Government House in large numbers if he failed to cancel the law.
At the Kaduna state council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) yesterday, the beggars warned that they would sacrifice their lives in the fight against the law, they described as highly insensitive. They said nobody can stop them from begging without providing another means of survival.
They carried placards with inscriptions, ‘El-Rufai, before stopping street begging, pass state disability bill’, ‘Fulfil your campaign promises before banning street begging’, ‘Give us 10 percent job opportunity as you promised before banning street begging’ etc.
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