How 3 Widows Died In Kano Due To Scarcity Of New Naira Notes- Hajia Altine Abdullahi

The Chairperson of the Voice of Widows, Divorces and Orphans, Hajia Altine Abdullahi, has claimed that three members of the Kano based association have lost their lives as a result of the Naira redesign policy of the Federal Government.

Hajia Abdullahi, who is a princess of the Kano Emirate, expressed her anger at the policy during an interview with THE WHISTLER.

She revealed that three young widows with children died at the  Muhammad Abdullahi Wase Specialist Hospital and the Murtala Muhammed Specialist Hospital in Kano during the week due to lack of access to cash and the challenges of online transfers.

She called on the Federal Government to reverse the policy and urgently ensure the new notes are available to members of the public.

Explaining how the women died, she said, “This  issue of currency redesign  is unexpected, this change in currency, is not acceptable to us, those of us working in the humanitarian sector because it is beginning to kill our people.

“Hunger is beginning to deal with many already. We are already in a condition where people lack and are in poverty. No food, people are getting sick without money to go to hospitals.

“I didn’t want to speak on this issue, but now it has become mandatory for me to speak out because three of my members died as a result of sicknesses while a child died because the mother couldn’t get money to feed her for 8 days.

“They were taken to Abdullahi Wase Specialist Hospital for treatment but they couldn’t raise cash because there was no money in the bank ATMs, and the hospital said they would not take transfers because the services were not working.”

The women activist said a lot of women, especially divorcees and widows were suffering due to the Naira scarcity as many families depend on daily cash earnings.

She alleged that some hospitals were also refusing to admit and treat poor women because of the current situation of the Naira.

“One of our members too had issues, her daughter died, but at the end of the day we discovered that it was tuberculosis that killed her.

“While treating her child she also contracted the disease and was vomiting blood and  we went to the hospital, but because of this issue of currency they refused to admit her. No money at hand and there was nothing we could do, no network.

“Then there’s this woman, which is the last one that troubled me most. She’s from Jigawa, and she  gave birth to a son 10 days ago.

“There was no milk in her breast because she was suffering malnutrition and there was no cash to buy food or anything for the baby. The baby died of hunger after 8 days!”

Hajia Abdullahi admonished the government to allow Nigerians continue to use the old notes if it cannot make new ones available.

“Government should listen to the yearnings of the people on this matter because politics and government is useless if they are not for the welfare of the people,” she said.