Gov. Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State says the state government will take the responsibility of conveying parents of orphans taken into custody following Boko Haram attacks in Borno and Yobe to visit their children in Sokoto annually.
Tambuwal, who made the pledge when he received 25 mothers of the orphans in Government House, Sokoto, on Saturday, said that the gesture would be one of the legacies his administration would bequeath to its successor.
The governor in a statement by his Special Adviser, Media and Publicity, Malam Muhammad Bello, said the commitment was in consideration of the fact that the parents had spent three years without seeing their children.
“This is due to difficulties of the economy and insecurity, henceforth every year Sokoto state government will take the responsibility of conveying them to and fro Maiduguri to come and see their children,” he said.
He added that his administration would continue to render more support and assistance to the orphans who are being catered for by Sokoto-based philanthropist, Alhaji Ummarun Kwabo.
Tambuwal said the state government has since provided additional one block of six classrooms to the UK-Jarma academy in order to assist the orphans.
He recalled that when Alhaji Ummarun Kwabo brought the idea of bringing the orphans from Borno and Yobe states the Sultanate Council and Sokoto state government supported the initiative and gave him all the necessary support and cooperation.
According to him, Sokoto and Borno as well as Yobe states share historical and consanguineous affinities that necessitate each other assisting themselves in times of dire distress.
Earlier in his remarks, the leader of the delegation who led the orphans’ mothers to Sokoto, Alhaji Babagana Aji, said they were in the state with the 25 mothers of the orphans to see their children after three years.
Aji, who attributed the delay in the visitation to the poverty of the mothers, appreciated Tambuwal; the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, and Alhaji Ummarun Kwabo for their generosity and humanitarian assistance to the orphans over the years.
He explained that the gesture has greatly helped the orphans, adding that it will impact positively in their future endeavours. (NAN)
