Tobias Sylvester
Kaduna State Police Command on Thursday raided a home allegedly used as an Islamic Centre and discovered over 300 persons chained together in Rigasa, Igabi Local Government Area of the state.
According to the police, the 300 victims including children are from Burkina Faso, Mali and other African countries.
The Police said the children had confessed to being sexually abused. While the adults reportedly said they were subjected to daily recitation of the Holy Quran and prayers, allegedly accompanied with torture.
With chains on their legs and scars of injuries from suspected torture, the victims reportedly said their rescue, on Thursday, amount to “liberation from slavery.”
One of the victims who identified himself as Bello Hamza, 42, alleged that he was “tricked to the centre” by his family who wanted to take over his share of their common inheritance.
“I have spent three months here with chains on my legs. I’m supposed to be pursuing my Master’s in University Pretoria, South Africa. I got admission to study Applied Mathematics, but here I am, chained.
“They claim to be teaching us Quran and Islam, but they do a lot of things here. They subject the younger ones to homosexuality.
“This is supposed to be an Islamic centre, but trying to run away from here attracts severe punishment.
“They tie people and hang them to the ceiling for that, but engaging in homosexuality attracts no punishment.
“Within my short stay here, somebody had died as a result of torture. Others have died before my coming due to poor health and torture.
“They give us very poor food and we only eat twice a day — 11:00am and 10:00pm.
“They have denied me a lot of things here. I am a family man, I have responsibilities, but I am chained here, not knowing what is happening to my family members,” he said.
The Kaduna State Commissioner for Police, Ali Janga, confirmed the incident.
