The 13-year-old girl was a rare sight. She was begging alms in the neighbourhood. Almajiris were mostly always boys, never girls.
She was shy when spoken to. But gradually, she began to respond, and her story was not typical for girls.
She identified herself as Mairo, from Gama Giwa village in Maradun council area of Zamfara. Her father sent her off to the capital Gusau to attend almajiri school.
Almajiri system requires children, mostly boys in Nigeria, to search knowledge, learning the Koran from a master and living off alms.
Mairo became a disciple of a man she called Mallam Ibrahim in Gusau. She and nearly 100 others from different parts of Zamfara.
“We go for menial jobs in people’s residences. The jobs include washing plates or cloths, thrashing grains, and we are usually rewarded with money, food or clothes,” the teenager said.
All the almajiris sleep in a room in Ibrahim’s home. A standing rule is in place: Ibrahim’s wives take for themselves any money the almajiris make.
A second female almajiri is Aisha. “The mallam’s wives would also ask us to sweep and neatly arrange their bedrooms,” she said.
“I can’t understand why my father decided to send me to Almajiri school and I prefer staying at home with my parents.”
Daily Trust located an almajiri school, run by Mallam Tukur in Janyau area of Gusau.
Wooden slates litter the front of his home, where Quranic lessons hold. Pupils scamper about. The school has 150 pupils, including girls, says Tukur, and they come from all over the state.
Investigation by Daily Trust revealed that such Almajiri schools are springing up in Gusau and other villages in the state. In Gama Giwa village alone there are four of such schools.
Our reporter also saw a woman called Saratu Ibrahim who came to Mallam Tukur’s school from Maradun Local Government Area to pay her 11-year-old daughter, Amina, a visit.
“I came here to pay her a visit. My husband died some years ago and he was the one who sent his daughter to the school. She used to go home during Sallah and she won’t go home till the next Sallah festivity.”
However, some Civil Societies Organizations in the state have frowned at the practice saying that sending girls to Almajiri schools was capable of exposing them to sexual abuse and or molestation. The concern comes amidst an upsurge in rape cases.
The chairman of a nongovernmental organization, Save The Common Man Association of Nigeria, Zamfara State chapter, Dan-Sule Janyau, cautions against recklessness in sending children to such schools.
“Parents are doing so out of recklessness. How can a sensible father send his daughters to Almajiri school? Recently, I saw many of them walking with their luggage. They were on vacation and heading to their various home towns. Look at how parents are battling to properly bring up their kids even when they are with them at homes. How are parents sure that their daughters would not be abused?” he asked.
According to him, in male Almajiri schools, there are cases of abuse of the children by their tutors and other residents. “We have heard of many heart-rending stories of sexual molestation of female kids when they are sent on errand by their parents. This is happening somewhere near their parents’ homes or even inside their residences. What of if they are sent far away?”
The chairman called on Zamfara government to look into the menace and stop it urgently.
“The government might not know what is actually happening. The parents should also have the fear of Almighty Allah and stop this practice,” he said.
Janyau said they would do all in their power to expose such schools where ever they are so that concrete stops will be taken to halt the ugly phenomenon.
The Commissioner for Women and Children Affairs in Zamfara State, Bilkisu Bungudu, told Daily Trust that female Almajiranci is a complicated issue in this state.
She lamented directly speaking against it could be interpreted as anti-islam by some religious organisations.
“We have to apply wisdom in the matter. We have already contacted the Zamfara State House of Assembly and we have also decided to meet religious organisations such as Council of Ulamas because they would play an important role in the public sensitization.
“There are already reported cases of abuse such as child labour. We won’t be happy to hear that some of these social vices are trending in this state,” she said.
The United Council for Islamic School Teachers through its chairman Bello Asako also spoke against the practice.
He said in Islam, it is mandatory for every Muslim whether male or female to seek for knowledge but not in a detrimental way. He said they do not know about existence of such Tsangaya schools until recently.
“I have just spoken with the Secretary to the State Government, Professor Abdullahi Muhammad Shinkafi and the state house of assembly on the matter and we will do everything humanly possible to put a stop to it. We believe the state government would look into the situation,” he added.
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