‘My life as an old woman without a home’

Investigations by Pyramid Trust revealed that there are many old people who are sleeping on the streets and in market places because of poverty and neglect from the society. Among them are old women. Women sleeping in this porous environment abound in Kano State.       Hadiza Alhaji Aliyu is one of these women who sits […]

Investigations by Pyramid Trust revealed that there are many old people who are sleeping on the streets and in market places because of poverty and neglect from the society. Among them are old women. Women sleeping in this porous environment abound in Kano State.     

 Hadiza Alhaji Aliyu is one of these women who sits by the road side to beg during the day time and in the night, retires to the ancient Kurmi market to spend the night in a stall. Having no place to live in, Hadiza carrieds along with her, the whole of her worldly possessions tied in a rag. People take her for a lunatic because of the bundle she is carrying.

Deported from the Holy land of Saudi Arabia 15 years ago, Hadiza knows nobody in the state despite having her origin there. She said her parents took her to Makkah when she was just three years old and since then, she had spent all her life there, married and even had children. She was deported alone and since her arrival to the city, she has never heard from her family. “I don’t know if they are still alive. I left my parents, my husband and children in the holy land. In fact, I was suckling a baby when they abducted me and took me back to this place,” she said.

From the time she landed in this city, the market has been serving as her home. Under all conditions, she has remained in the market. She comes out very early in the morning, trek to a far distant part of the city to beg. “Everyday, I trek from the market to this place (refers to off BUK road). I spend the day here, eat from what people give me and in the evening, I trek back to the market to spend the night,” she said.

This activity has become a daily routine for Hadiza. Her friends constitute similar displaced women who come out during the day time to beg and in the night, take shelter under the shade of the markets and on road sides. She said they are living in that condition because they have no option, “as we don’t know anybody and no one has offered to assist us. We are contented with our condition. If our death comes, we pray that it will be the end of our suffering,” she said.  

Lamenting how she was being treated by some people as a mad woman, Hadiza said, “people call me mad woman and I accept it. I have accepted my fate and I hope for succour from God,” she said. According to her, there were many sane people, who for one reason or the other, found themselves on the streets and people took them for lunatics.

Hadiza who said she has lost all hopes of reuniting with her family, told Pyramid Trust that since her deportation back to Kano, the government had done nothing to assist her. For all these years, she had been wallowing in her condition with no sign of relief. “I don’t know government, I know only God and His prophet. Nobody has ever come to me to ask the reason why I’m sleeping in the market, or why I’m begging on the streets. You are the only one (refers to this reporter) who ever came to ask me about my condition. May God reward you for caring, “she said.

Investigation by Pyramid Trust revealed that apart from deportees, there are many women who have never gone out of the state but they also sleep on the streets or markets. The fact that these women move about with their luggages as it is common with mad people, the society sees them as such.

Zuwairatu Idrisu who hails from Kura Local Government Area, said abject poverty displaced her and brought her out. She has no relatives. When her husband died, she could not continue with the house rent because of lack of funds. She was forced out on the streets and for over one year now, that has been her life. “I have no parents, no husband and no relatives. As I cannot pay the house rent, I was sacked. Left with no option, I relocated to the streets. I have no particular place to spend the night, wherever the night falls, I lay my luggage down and go to sleep.”

Security is one area that is disturbing every sane person in Nigeria. People are not safe even within the confines of their homes, how are these women feeling when they sleep in such a porous environment?

Hadiza said at the beginning she was too scared that she hardly slept but with time she has reposed her trust in God and was ready for any eventuality. She noted that women sleeping outside were exposed to the risk of being raped, robbed and even killed. Such women have been disappearing without any clues to their whereabouts.

What is government doing to rehabilitate these women?

An anonymous source from the State Emergency Relief and Rehabilitation Agency; the agency saddled with the responsibility of rehabilitating the destitutes, said for years, the agency has rehabilitated the destitutes that were brought to it. It disclosed that during the first tenure of this administration, it had conducted an evacuation exercise where these destitutes were evacuated from the streets and rehabilitated at an appropriate centre.

The source further added that the agency has rehabilitated people who were repatriated from other countries; such as Saudi Arabia and even from states across the country. “The deportees are brought to us here. We sort them out and take each person to the appropriate rehabilitation centre across the state,” said the source.

It added that after rehabilitating them, the agency went further to search for the relatives of the affected persons. “On many occasions, we have been able to locate their relatives,” it said.

The source however, disclosed that for over two years, such evacuation exercise were not carried out, saying if such individuals could be brought to the agency, their rehabilitation can be facilitated.