Police Uncover Another Islamic Centre With Chained, Maltreated Children In Daura, Katsina State

The Nigeria police have discovered and shut an Islamic centre that is dehumanising
Children in Daura in Katsina state in northern Nigeria.The proprietor of the Islamic Centre, 78-year-old Bello Maialmajri, and two others have been arrested, but the teachers, who have been accused of homosexuality escaped arrest. Mr. Sanusi Buba, the Katsina State Commissioner of Police, said on Monday that 66 out of more than 300 inmates manacled at the centre were located at Nasarawa quarters, the Sabongari, and were in terribly state. The inmates, mostly male children are from various parts of Nigeria, and Niger Republic. A police team has taken over the premises to ensure the security of the inmates, who narrated tales of woes.

“Based on the information the command received, we were here to see things for ourselves and take appropriate action. “We learnt that the inmates here are over 300 and because of the sordid and inhuman treatment they are being subjected to, the inmates revolted yesterday (Sunday). Some of the inmates escaped while these ones you are seeing now, about 60 of them stayed back. “I am going to meet the Emir of Daura and Governor Aminu Masari on the issue. We shall do the profiling of the remaining inmates with a view to determining where they are from and we shall thereafter appeal to their parents and their guardians to come and pick them up,” the commissioner said.

Aside subjecting the inmates to inhuman conditions, he accused some of their teachers who escaped arrest of sexually abusing them. Abubakar Saminu, 16, from Yobe State, one of the inmates said his parents brought him to the centre because he was stealing. “My parents brought me here because they believed I would be cured of my stealing problem.‘’ More than 200 had on Sunday escaped from the centre and ran into the town, narrating how they were being maltreated, a development that sparked outrage. The police in Kaduna had on September 26 uncovered a house in Rigasa harbouring no fewer than 300 children, chained on the legs and starving. The children were manacled, possibly to ensure that they do not escape. The centre was also shut down the inmates handed over to their state of origin for better rehabilitation and reunion with their parents.