The Kano State Hisbah authorities — law enforcement arm of the sharia law — said 200 persons were arrested for street begging in the Kano municipal area, in Nigeria’s northern region.

Nabahani Usman, deputy head of Hisbah in Kano

The Deputy Commander, Operations, Hisbah Board, Malam Yusuf Nabahani, told newsmen that preliminary investigations indicated that the beggars were new to the city.

Nabahani also said that most of those arrested claimed ignorance of the ban on street begging by the Kano State Government.

“We plan to return all of them to their various communities after making inquiries. We will warn them never to return,” he said.

One of those arrested said that his community was facing famine, adding that there was not much farm activities for him to undertake.

Another batch of 15 beggars, which was arrested by the board, was given assistance by the state government to start their own businesses.

The empowered beggars had taken an oath not to return to the streets as the board threatened to prosecute them if they violated their oath.