BEGGARS GIVES EL-RUFAI 7 DAYS TO WITHDRAW BILL ON STREET BEGGING

Yesterday, beggars in Kaduna State staged a protest over the law banning street begging and hawking while giving Governor Nasir El-Rufai a seven-day ultimatum to withdraw the law.

It was reported that Governor El-Rufai had last week approved the bill to ban street begging and hawking.
The beggars have reacted to the new development as contrary to the promises made to them during the campaign and have threatened to occupy the Government House in their large numbers if El-Rufai would not withdraw the law.

The beggars which comprise of the blind, deaf, and the physically challenged, stormed the Kaduna state council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) yesterday lamenting that they did not mind sacrificing their lives in the fight against the law while stating that nobody could stop them from begging without providing alternative means of survival.
The protesters raised placards with inscriptions that included, ‘El-Rufai, before stopping street begging, pass state disability bill’, ‘Fulfil your campaign promises before banning street begging’, and ‘Give us 10 percent job opportunity as you promised before banning street begging.’

Julius Shemang, the Chairman of Concerned Citizens with Disabilities, while speaking on the protest, said that the passage of the law contradicted the agreed process reached between them and the government that adequate provision and solutions would be proffered before the law would come into effect. [PM]