Akeredolu Orders Return of Almajiris to State of Origin

Ondo State Governor, Oluwaroyimi Akeredolu, has ordered the return of about 20 persons of northern states origin popularly called Almajiris back to their various states.

The Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Security, Alhaji Jimoh Dojumo, disclosed the directive of the governor while speaking on the 20 Almajiris  that were sneaked  into the state in a cement truck last Monday night.

The sudden arrival of Almajiris, who were discovered at the Dangote Cement Depot along Oyemekun road in Akure, the state capital, caused panic among residents of the state who alerted the authorities of their arrival.

It was gathered that the Almajiris had traveled down to the state from Sokoto State despite the shutdown of borders across the state.

Despite that their bodies were covered with cement dust, one of the Almajiris, who gave his name as Garba, stated that they arrived in the state on a bus from Sokoto State.

Dojumo, who led the state taskforce team on COVID-19 to the depot where the Almajiris were dumped, stated that the state government has commenced blockage of some routes which  some travellers have been using to sneak into the state.

He urged other state governments to be vigilant in their surveillance.

According to him, "We received information that some Almajiris numbering about 20 were dumped in a particular location by some trailers at night and that they are stranded as they don’t know their destination.

"The governor has directed that they should be returned to the way they were coming from because we believe they came in through a border and states before they got here. We expected the authorities of those states to check the movement of people before getting to us.

"It is like we have helped Osun State to check it now. They are not moving towards Osun State. We don't even know if this is their final destination, but the fact remain that we have been able to check them here and we are returning them back to where they are coming from.

"We agreed that our boundaries are still porous but what we are doing now is the blocking of the unmanned borders. Some of our border routes and bush paths that security agencies do not have the strength to block are very porous, and that is where the governor is now totally blocking with concretes. That is why we are moving to Akoko/Imeri axis of the state to block all those areas.”