Beggars in Kaduna State have staged a protest over the promulgation of a law banning street begging and hawking by Governor Nasir El-Rufai.
They gave the governor seven days ultimatum to withdraw the law.
El-Rufai had last week assented to the bill to ban street begging and hawking, which the beggars described as contrary to the promises made to them during his campaign, and threatened to occupy the Government House in their large numbers if El-Rufai refuses to withdraw the law at the expiration of their ultimatum.
The beggars comprising the blind, the deaf, and the physically challenged, stormed the Kaduna state council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) yesterday to register their grievances, asserting that they did not mind sacrificing their lives in the fight against the law.
They maintained that nobody could stop them from begging without providing alternative means of survival.
The protesters carried placards with inscriptions such as, ‘El-Rufai, before stopping street begging, pass State Disability Bill’, ‘Fulfill your campaign promises before banning street begging’, and ‘Give us 10 percent job opportunity as you promised before banning street begging.’
In his speech, the Chairman of Concerned Citizens with Disabilities, Julius Shemang, 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.
