The Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has said that 65 of the 169 almajiris brought back to the state have tested positive for the coronavirus.

The governor disclosed this on Wednesday during an interview on Channels TV’s Politics Today programme.

“We received 169 almajiris from Kano, of Kaduna State origin, and we immediately quarantined them because of the situation that we are aware of in Kano.

“Out of the 169 so far, 65 were positive for coronavirus,” he said.

The governor had earlier explained that the Northern State Governors’ Forum had taken a decision at a meeting three weeks ago, that they would put a stop to the almajiri system in the region.

According to him, part of the steps taken was to repatriate all almajiris back to their states of origin.

“What we agreed on as governors, is that each state governor will take delivery of these almajiris and return them to their parents and ensure that they go to school”.

In Kaduna State, he confirmed that over 30,000 had been repatriated to their own states.

“We have repatriated over 30,000 who are from other states in the north, back to their states and we are happy to receive any almajiri from any state of the federation that is indigenous to Kaduna State”.

El-Rufai, however, said: “the only thing we request is that they should be brought in officially by the state government.

“They should be brought to the Kaduna State Government on a bilateral basis, so that we know when they are coming, we can prepare to receive them, we test them and so on,” he added.

For the 169 who have been repatriated to the state so far, the governor said, the state is happy to receive them.