All people shall be equal. They shall enjoy the same respect and shall have the same rights. Nothing shall justify the domination of a people by another. This is the provision of Article 19 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act CAP A9 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria. Nigeria is a state party to this charter and has a duty to abide by its provision. All citizens of Nigeria are entitled to the protection of the Charter. But can this be said of the beggars in Kaduna State? Recent decisions by the government have shown that are lesser beings and, law or no law, they can be subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment, discrimination, mental torture and physical agony.

On July 7, 2015 there was a screening exercise billed to hold at Sabon Gari Local Government Secretariat, Zaria for the purpose of ascertaining the existence or non-existence of ghost workers on the payroll of the state. As some civil servants and teachers were waiting to be screened, a suicide bomber struck, killing scores of persons and injured others. In reaction, the spokesman of Kaduna State Governor, Samuel Aruwan Stated thus:

“Kaduna State government’s decision to ban hawking and begging in the state followed last week’s bomb attack that killed 26 innocent citizens and injured 32. The government is a responsible government and conscious of its constitutional role to protect citizens and ensure law and order for common good. The state government will not fold its arms and allow citizens to be killed via terror act and breakdown of law and order, hence the decision”. What a beautiful justification for an unnecessary decision!

Undoubtedly, the violent and unnatural death of any citizen constitutes a serious pain to the entire nation. The surprising thing in this case is the failure of those in authority in Kaduna State to realise that it was failure on the part of government to provide adequate security at the venue of the screening that granted access to the suicide bomber.

The government gathered the crowed on July 7, 2015 and their respective rights to life as guaranteed by section 33(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) were brutally taken away even though it was avoidable. They are not alive and cannot enforce the right. Poor souls! The approach of the State is a further failure of the government to protect the weak and the vulnerable. Article 4 of the African Charter on Human and People’s Right (Ratification and Enforcement) Act provides; “Human beings are inviolable. Every human being shall be entitled to respect for his life and integrity of his person. No one may be arbitrarily deprived of this right.” It is also instructive to point out that section 42 of the Nigerian Constitution provides for freedom from discrimination.

From July 7, 2015 till now it is yet to be heard that the suicide bomber that crept into the crowd at Sabongari Local government secretariat in Zaria was a beggar. It is also not the case that the bomber was sponsored, aided or abetted by beggars to carry out the wicked act. Or, at least, that is yet to be ascertained.

What is the nexus between the beggars and the bomb blast? Nigerians have not been told that a search was conducted in the beggars’ places of abode in Kaduna and explosives were found in their custody or they were in possession of combustible materials to arouse any suspicion of their complicity in the security challenges. It is unconstitutional to discriminate against the beggars because they are from a weak and voiceless community who can be easily dominated and despised by the high and mighty.

In a situation where some citizens are suffering deprivation because they are beggars, it is manifestly clear that the government of Kaduna State or any other government that behaves in a similar manner towards those seen as destitute, for that matter, does not deem those citizens as being entitled to respect for their lives and integrity of their persons. Majority of the beggars are people with various forms of disabilities and the state is under a duty to cater for them.

If the state is desirous of having its cities beggars – free, it must not insult their sensibilities and associate them with terrorism as a way of, perhaps, making its decision ‘popular.’ Government must come off its high horse and engage the beggars in dialogue, come up with poverty alleviation policies, rehabilitation exercises and vocational training for skills acquisition.

In the course of the rehabilitation and training, the government may consider providing the basic needs of the beggars for the success of the endeavor, as they will be off the streets without the usual income from benevolent citizens. This policy if implemented in a gradual and consistent manner, will reduce begging to an inconsequential level.

By the provision of Article 18 paragraph 4 of the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act the aged and people with disability are entitled to the suggested protection. The Article provides: “the aged and the disabled shall also have the right to special measures of protection in keeping with their physical and moral needs”.

It is unfortunate that, in Kaduna State, instead of providing the special measures of protection for the beggars, they have been inflicted with untold pains and hardship resulting from an unfair, unreasonable and unconstitutional decision.

A great number of beggars are aged and disabled. The unpopular decision leads to inhuman and degrading treatment, as it confines the beggars to filthy and unhygienic environment and also denies them access to their daily income for their livelihood without alternative provision. This is a clear attack on their rights to the dignity of their persons as guaranteed by Section 34 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

By this singular act, Kaduna State has accused the beggars of involvement in terrorism, tried them without giving them a hearing, passed judgment on these helpless citizens and enforced the judgment. Where is the Rule of Law? Did the Governor not swear to uphold the Constitution on May 29, 2015? What has become of that Oath? It is a cardinal rule of natural justice that a man must be heard before a judgment is passed in his case.

Under the Child Rights Act, children have right to basic education. The Government of Kaduna State has a duty of informing the beggars of their children’s rights to free basic education and go beyond that to take the children and register them in schools for a better tomorrow for them and the society. The government is not treading on such noble path but only interested in oppressive decisions that will only promise a bleak future for the society.

As far as Anglo-Saxon and Common Law Countries are concerned, the present day human rights and rule of law had their origin from Magna Carta of June 15, 1215. One hundred and fifty years after the Normans conquered England; the English barons revolted, challenged the divine right of the King and demanded to be dealt with in accordance with the law of the land. King John had no alternative in the face of the barons’ renunciation of their allegiance to him but to accept the Carta. It was a document granting sixty-three concessions demanded. After the preamble and affirmation of liberty to the church, the King stated in the document:-

“We have granted moreover to all free men of our kingdom for us and our heirs forever all the liberties written below, to be had and holden by themselves and their heirs from us and other heirs.” All the rights guaranteed in our various laws now draw their origin from the Magna Carta and if the rights of all free men would be respected in 1215 in England, then what is going on in Kaduna state deserves condemnation from all. It is a wonder why the administration of Governor Nasiru El-Rufai, Governor of Kaduna State, would act in a manner, which may undermine the constitutional and statutory rights of the beggars. Could it be because it believes that they are not in a position to seek the legal enforcement of the rights?