A video of some children in the Arewa community scavenging for leftover food has sparked outrage on social media. The video shows the kids fighting over scraps of food leftover

 

Activist Aisha Yesufu, known for her outspoken views, reacted to the video on X (formerly Twitter) and slammed the Arewa Muslim community for their silence. She accused them of being hypocritical and neglecting the rights of the children.

 

She wrote: “If it was about someone’s dressing or opinion, hashtags would already be trending to show hypocritical love for Islam but on children who are supposed to be catered for and loved and protected there is silence. No one is quoting Qur’an and Hadith on Child Rights.”

 

Her tweet generated mixed reactions from other users. Some agreed with her and blamed the government and the elites for the poverty and suffering of the people in the north. Others disagreed with her and accused her of being biased and politicizing the issue.

 

Here are some of the reactions:

 

@Nawas_masood: 

“As a Muslim, what did you do to change the situation? How many of these kids did you help? Do you think condemning them on social media will change the situation? Do you think going against Muslim because of politics will change the situation? You are always here on Twitter, condemning northerners and Muslims for your political interest.”

 

@paschalokeke1: 

“It is so heartbreaking that some people still live in such abject poverty in an oil rich country as Nigeria. Take a good look at Dubai and ask yourself what really happened to Nigeria.”

 

@OparaVik: 

“A responsible government would have declared a state of emergency on this pandemic. But this is Nigeria, and this scenario feeds the politicians’ greed. The more poor people there are, the more politicians use the excuse to loot.”

 

@iamdikacee: 

“They won’t come out to speak against the poverty in the north and ill treatment of the children roaming in the streets begging for food because their elites took so much of their right and enslaved them to poverty.”

 

@egwu_anya: 

“I lived in the north for a while and I can tell you emphatically that poverty has become their motto. Kids are left to be bred by the street. Those in power have used this as a means to subdue the will and destiny of their people. This is the reality, sadly in the 21st century.”

 

@Fedoski247::

 “This right here is why we shouldn’t mix governance with religion, it’s a disgrace and it kills a society.”